


Mistakes Made, Mistakes Missed

by QuirkQuartz



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra is in constant need of hugs, Character Study, Crushes, Established Relationship, F/F, Gen, Introspection, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, Short Story, catradora, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24684082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuirkQuartz/pseuds/QuirkQuartz
Summary: After the end of the war, Catra and Adora end up learning where the remnents of their old Squad from the Horde - Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie - Are, and at Scorpia's request, go to see them to try to talk about their history. After everything, Catra finds herself wanting to fix things - And finds herself seeing the same mistake she made happening all over again.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Kyle (She-Ra), Catra & Lonnie (She-Ra), Catra & Rogelio (She-Ra), Kyle & Lonnie (She-Ra), Kyle & Rogelio (She-Ra), Kyle/Rogelio (She-Ra)
Comments: 51
Kudos: 213





	1. Nerves

The First Ones ship was fast - Obviously - It was capable of travelling between planets and solar systems, of course it was fast. It was capable of getting whoever was in it around Etheria rapidly if that was what they wanted. It could get someone to the other side of the planet in under an hour if that was what they wanted. It could get them to the farthest moon of Etheria in about the same time if that was what they wanted. Mara's ship, ancient as it was now, was still an absolute marvel of both First Ones technology, and of known technology in general, the Galactic Horde aside.

If they wanted, this ship could get someone from it's starting location, to an obscure village a hundred miles from its starting position within a few minutes. It couldn't go full speed because that would, according to the AI that inhabited the ship, not end well at all. But it wouldn't take long one way or the other.

Why this trip felt like it was taking longer came down to nerves.

"...So, uh… Are you nervous?"

Catra's tail flicked on its own at the question. She didn't say anything, just watching the land pass by as they flew above it, headed to their destination at a speed she couldn't begin to calculate. Trees were a blur, clouds passed by in rapid succession, and hills far away moved quickly as well.

That was all easier to focus on. Much easier to focus on.

It was strange, but not really unexpected. She hadn't been nervous about ten minutes ago, but the realization that this was actually happening seemed to hit her harder the closer they got to their destination. As reality began to sink in more and more.

In her head, it was easy to admit - Yes, absolutely she was.

She wasn't sure what was going to happen once the ship landed. If she were being completely honest, she half expected there to be a fistfight - And she didn't want that. She was tired of fighting. All the reasons for fighting were gone.

The war was over.

….Personal conflicts weren't though. And there were a lot of those to go around thanks to the war.

…. And plenty were thanks to her own actions.

Having nerves like this was still foreign to Catra. She'd never had time to really reflect on them before like this. Maybe the closest she got to nerves like this was after she'd been rescued by Adora and the rest from the Galactic Horde, and had her chip removed, and approached them afterwards. That was the closest it got. This was different though. This was a situation she was walking into a hundred percent of her own accord.

The nerves felt different now.

Adora bowed slightly, tilting her head to try to get a better look at Catra's expression. It gave away pretty much everything there was to give away - Obviously she was nervous. It made sense. Even back in the Horde, it wasn't like she would have expected this to fill her with joy and excitement. Now she looked… Anxious. Something that she wasn't used to seeing on Catra's face.

Before she could say anything though, Catra spoke.

"...I guess so."

"...To be honest I'm kind of surprised you admitted it."

"Yeah, well, someone told me I need to be more open with that sort of thing, so, here we are." Catra gave her half-joking-but-also-half-serious reply, look, and smirk, before she let out a long sigh. She scratched at the back of her neck, feeling in particular at where her chip had used to be. She shuddered slightly, before she turned to her girlfriend. "...Are you?"

This time, Adora paused, but it was only for a couple of seconds. "...A bit. We didn't exactly leave on the best of terms last time we saw each other." Adora let out a small sigh of her own. She didn't have a much better track record if she were being completely honest. Not over the last couple of years, anyway. Then she placed her hand on Catra's shoulder, and gave her a warm smile of encouragement and endearment. "Then again, you and I didn't, and look at us now."

Letting herself smile and calm down a bit, Catra placed her hand on top of Adora's. That… Helped. "Don't get mushy on me."

Adora let herself chuckle. "Whatever you say, Catra."

The end of the war had brought about a lot of… History, was probably the best word for it, for Catra. The Horde was defeated, peace had taken over Etheria, and reconstruction had begun. Those who had fled the Horde's ranks, surrendered and the likes, were now being reformed and put to work at rebuilding the communities that they had damaged throughout the war. What few holdouts there were, the absolute fanatics, had more or less been completely rounded up.

A lot of those people had suffered because of Catra. Both in the Horde and out of it.

In the face of the Galactic Horde, a lot of old grudges and issues seemed to have been put aside by a majority of the population, living both equal parts in fear, and in fury towards their new oppressors. When the Rebellion fought back, everyone fought back, former Horde and all. It had made the process of reintroducing them to the wider society of Etheria a much easier process.

But it didn't change the people that Catra had hurt throughout her time in the Horde. She'd been one of the highest ranking members, and held power over others. Nearly all others. With nothing else to fill the hole in her heart, she used that power more or less however she saw fit. Abused it to fulfil her own personal grudges that she thought would make her feel better.

Against people who couldn't do anything against her.

Well, now she was going to face the music.

That was where the nerves came from.

Outside, the scenery began to move slower and slower, until it eventually came to a halt. Then it started to get closer and closer, taller and taller, and the pair of them realized that they had arrived. For a moment, they stood still, letting the reality of the situation sink in for them.

"You ready?" Adora asked.

"About as ready as I think I'm gonna be." Catra said, letting out another, smaller sigh. She bit her lower lip, and scratched at the back of her neck again.

Somehow, she had a feeling that today was going to be one filled with sighs.

"Catra." Adora spoke a bit more firmly, but when Catra turned to face her, she had nothing but a reassuring smile on her face for the short-haired woman. "It'll be fine. We'll… We'll figure it out. I promise."

"You saying that to me or to yourself?"

"I can't do both?"

"How comforting." Catra rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but feel… A bit better, she supposed. Adora had that effect, even when she didn't want her to.

"Come on. Let's… Figure this out." Adora pulled Catra's hand into a hold with hers, and led the two of them to the back of the ship, where the exit would open up and let them leave, and face what awaited them on the other side.

It took surprisingly little time to reach the back end of the ship once someone had the layout familiarized - The ship wasn't exactly small, so figuring out the layout took a one had it down though, they could find all the shortcuts and corridors that got people where they were needed quickly and easily. Practically living in the ship for a while meant Adora had all of them figured out.

And within a few minutes, they were ready to go, when they felt the ship land.

The door began to open up.

Catra felt herself gulp. Nerves again.

Adora squeezed her hand, to remind her she was there.

Catra gripped onto it.

The entire process took only a few seconds, until the open door provided a ramp for the two of them to walk down. The ship had landed almost in the perfect position - At the foot of the ship ramp, the three of them stood.

Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio.

Their old squad.

Before anyone even moved, their eyes all seemed to lock with one another's, even though it was three-to-two. None of their expressions gave… Anything away. There wasn't any anger. No joy. No fear, no… Anything. Not on display anyway. Like they couldn't believe that they were seeing one another here either.

Once more, Catra let out a long sigh. She stole another glance at Adora, and Adora gave her a small nod of encouragement.

Then the both of them began the descent down to meet their old squadmates.

With the war ended, and the Horde defeated, it really was just a matter of time until they ran into one another again, through sheer coincidence or not. It wasn't coincidence that had brought about this reunion though.

It had been from Scorpia that they had learned where their old three squadmates had been, in a village north of the Fright Zone. Scorpia had managed to run into them somehow, either through pure luck or because she had had some kind of estimate on where they would end up going, from listening to them talk or because she just paid attention to them back in the Horde or… Something. Catra honestly had no idea how Scorpia had managed to run into these three, of all people.

Regardless of how it happened though, it had been Scorpia who had managed to convince them to meet with one another here, to try and…

...Catra didn't even know what Scorpia expected to happen here. A big hug? Some sort of big emotional moment? This was Scorpia, actually, she probably was hoping for something like that.

She couldn't help but wonder exactly what percent of them all agreeing to meet again was out of some actual desire to… Do whatever they were expected to do here, and how much of it was because it was Scorpia of all people who had asked them to do this.

It only took them a little to reach the earth beneath them, and by then, they were only a couple meters away from Lonnie and Rogelio. They were both in front of Kyle, who seemed to be more apprehensive than them about all of this now it was in motion. He wasn't so much hiding as he was just sort of standing behind the two of them, trying to get a glance of the two newcomers from between the gap of his two companions, apparently not thinking to just… Move around them. Catra felt herself swallow.

Of everyone there, it really wasn't a surprise that it was Adora who took the first step. Her hand raised slightly, and opened up into a small, awkward wave. "Erm… Hi, guys."

It wasn't exactly the best opener, but what more could reasonably be expected of her?

"...Hi." Lonnie was the only person to acknowledge the response, eyes narrowed, and fists balled up by her sides, like she was expecting a fight to break out just as much as Catra had been.

"...It's er, been a while, hasn't it?"

"For us." Lonnie stated flatly, looking at Adora. Her glare then turned to Catra. "Less so for us."

Feeling her ears twitch, Catra tried to open her mouth to speak, but she found herself unable to say anything. What could she even say in this situation? The last time she had seen any of these three, it had been when she was in the middle of a breakdown and unleashed hell on them at pretty much every turn. What were you even supposed to say in that situation?

She'd told Adora about it. What she'd done. The state she was in. That had been difficult enough as it was, but it had needed to be done. It had taken Adora a while to figure out what to say to that herself. She knew Adora didn't know what to say either, so how was she supposed to -

"A - Are you here to arrest us?"

Blinking back into reality, Catra looked behind Lonnie and Rogelio, seeing Kyle step up front and into the line of sight. Like he always was, he seemed nervous, like he was on the verge of having a panic attack.

She didn't like how much of herself she saw in him right about now.

"S-Sorry, what?" Adora asked, blinking herself.

Kyle's fists seemed to be as balled up as Lonnie's had been. He repeated himself though, in spite of clear anxiety. "A-are you here to arrest us for fighting with the Horde? Because you two were too, you know! You can't show up here and pretend like you weren't - "

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down!" Catra quickly stopped him, holding her hands up to show her empty palms. "We're not here to do anything like that. We wouldn't have come out here if that was all we were going to do - Scorpia would've handled that."

Immediately, Kyole's entire body posture seemed to relax, and he let out a breath that he didn't seem aware that he had been holding onto for who knew how long. "Oh, thank the Gods…"

That statement seemed to relax Rogelio too, at least slightly. It was hard to tell with him sometimes, but he seemed to let his shoulders lull slightly.

Slightly.

"The war's over." Adora explained. "Glimmer made it a decree that any Horde soldier who stopped fighting or helped fight against the Horde would be given a full pardon and could re-enter society. None of you have anything to worry about, I promise."

Still skeptical, Lonnie continued to ask, "So, why are you here?"

"Well, Scorpia kinda asked us to come here…"

"She didn't say that you had to talk to us."

"Well, you're all here, and she kind of implied that was what she wanted us to do - "

"Okay, now you have, and you're still here, so I'm guessing that you want something."

Naturally Lonnie was the most hostile one. It made sense to Catra, given everything that happened between the two of them. And it was hard to blame her.

"...I was… I was wondering if you could show us this village you've been working with." Adora said. "And after that I… I was hoping that we could talk about… Well… Everything, I guess."

It was a deflection - Not a lie, but a deflection. Neither of them had mentioned the village before - Though both were curious what they had been up to since arriving here, this was true - It wasn't why they were here though. Adora had deflected like that because she realized Catra had gotten tongue tied and didn't know what to say. She'd frozen.

Catra bit her lip.

"Fine." Lonnie said. "Maybe hide your faces, unless you want to get swamped by just about everyone there, Saviour of Etheria."

"Maybe that'd raise everyone's spirits!" Kyle responded, a slight gleam in his eye, and an optimistic smile was being thrown Lonnie's way. . "Everyones been exhausted lately with the reconstruction… Maybe this would be good motivation for everyone!" He then seemed to notice an irritation in Lonnie's glare. "I - I mean… Everyone knows She-Ra, and it's… Kinda hard to argue that She-Ra beat the Horde…"

Rogelio made some sort of noise, seemingly in agreement with his blond friend.

Kyle nodded. "That too, yeah, Rogelio - There is also the fact a giant spaceship landed less than a mile away. I'm not sure we'll be able to hide that… I think people will have seen it coming - "

"Ugh, fine." Lonnie groaned. "Do whichever you want, I don't 's just get this over with." As she spoke, she turned and made her way down the path to the village. Kyle and Rogelio followed suit.

"...Well, they didn't attack us." Adora noted, trying to make light of the situation. "That's a positive sign, right?"

All Catra could do was nod. And sigh.

Definitely one of many today.


	2. Ration Bars

The village that Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio had ended up at was called Geossphire - A mining village by common trade. It was located near a high concentration of special minerals, ranging from commonly known ones like Sapphires, to lesser known, magic infused ones called Saphispheres. That made the backbone of the local economic income for the village, and it was why it had been a target for the Horde many times throughout the war. Valuable minerals for the war machine.

It was a region that had seen its fair share of the war. From the skies, Catra had been able to see some of the damage done by the war around the place. Craters and the likes, now covered by new-growing grass and wildlife. Some sheets of metal and ruined machines that hadn't been cleared out yet. Given the importance of this place though, there were far less instances of leftover warfare than she expected there to be.

There hadn't been any cleanups sent up here yet though. Glimmer had had to focus on sending those crews to the higher populated areas. So that had to mean the locals had sorted their own surroundings out.

Kyle hadn't been wrong at all - The presence of the legendary She-Ra had made one heck of an impact on the villagers who just a few minutes ago, had been as concerned as any community would have been who just survived an alien occupation would have been at the sight of a landing spaceship.

But that had gone in an instant when they realized that the person on board that ship had been the person who had stopped that alien invasion from continuing - The face of the Rebellion, the fighter of the Horde, the Saviour of Etheria, whatever other names they had come up with for her. When they realized who was here the entire village nearly erupted into some sort of makeshift celebration. This had happened at nearly every town and village Adora had visited in the last couple of weeks, and she'd always found herself being dragged along with it.

Catra couldn't help but smirk at it - The mighty She-Ra, dragged away by some overexcited villagers. This seemed to happen in every village they went to but it never stopped amusing her.

It didn't amuse her former squadmates though.

The air of hostility from Lonnie was still as palpable as it had been the second they arrived, even as more time passed. It was clear she didn't want them there at all - the minute they were in the borders of the village, she just left Catra on her own, heading off to… Do whatever it was she was planning on doing today, Catra supposed.

Lucky for her though, Kyle and Rogelio didn't leave her. And they were less unamused and more… Unsure what to do with themselves around their former Force Captain.

"I erm…" Kyle muttered, once a few awkward moments had passed and no one said anything. "I'm… Sorry, about Lonnie. Please don't be too upset with her? She's… Still upset after everything. I don't think she even really wanted to meet with you two today, but Scorpia insisted and..."

Catra sighed, "It's fine. I get it. I wasn't exactly the nicest commander in the Horde."

Rogelio and Kyle glanced at one another, before staring back at Catra.

"...What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and looking back at them.

"It's… Nothing. You just seem… Different."

"Well I did have my hair cut, if that's what you're asking." Catra replied sarcastically, folding her arms.

A noise came from Rogelio - It was almost like a laugh.

"You… Never used to make jokes like that… Or ever, actually." Kyle stated. His head tilted slightly, his eyebrow raised, his lips slightly curled. "It's… Weird. But it's also kind of… Nice?"

"...Am I seriously that different?"

Catra dropped her sarcasm and awkwardness, and looked at the two of her former squadmates head on. Such an action alone back in the Fright Zone would have earned her still expressions and salutes. Now she didn't exude that authoritativeness.

"I mean, I know how I was back when I was a Force Commander, but… Am I seriously that different outside that?"

"To be honest… Yeah?"

"We've only been here for about fifteen minuites - We've barely even said two words to one another - How can you even tell?"

"It's… Really noticeable."

Though she wanted to speak again, Catra ran her mind back over the years - Something she hadn't done since the war ended - And once more, sighed. "...Yeah, I suppose so."

Really, all it took was speaking with her for a bit and anyone could notice the difference. Back in Horde she was… She wasn't even sure how she'd describe it herself. It was like her entire being was an apparatus that ran on spite and fury more than anything else, chasing a vague feeling of personal attack than any hard thought-out goal. Engaging in command the only way she knew how - Brute force and fear. Trying to fill the role of someone she knew damn well she couldn't. But doing it anyway out of a sense of wanting to prove something to herself.

Back then she was a mishmash of conflicting emotions and feelings that she just… Anger was what she defaulted to, because that was the easiest one to embrace. Especially when feeling like she was the one betrayed.

Hell, going back even further, she'd always been kind of a brat to the rest of them - She had Adora, so what reason did she have to give a damn about them? And between her and Lonnie in particular...

For another few moments, the three of them were quiet. Kyle and Rogelio glanced at one another a few times in those moments, not sure what to do or say.

Eventually it was Rogelio that spoke up - As best as he was capable of doing so. Catra looked up at him, as did Kyle, though only one of them understood what was being said, and his face was growing more anxious athe longer Rogelio spoke.

After the lizard-man finished, there were a few seconds of silence before Catra nodded at him and asked, "Er… What'd he say?"

"He er… He wants to know why you're with Adora now."

Catra's tail stood up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I - It's just - The last time we saw you, you were…. Obsessed with capturing her and taking her to Hordak. It was… Pretty much the only thing you ever really talked about." Kyle held his hands up like claws, and every point he made, he opened his fingers, to emphasise his point. "Adora this, Adora that, the Horde will take over Etheria and defeat the Princesses and She-Ra and… Stuff."

Oh. That was what they meant.

"And… Now you're here with her, and you seem… Close again. And you're all… Different-y."

Not everyone knew. It wasn't like she and Adora had decided to blast out announcements of their relationship to the far corners of the continent, and it wasn't like they had any intention to. Eventually it would become common knowledge by sheer magnitude of the fame of She-Ra and Adora at this point, but Catra forgot briefly that right now, not everyone knew how things stood between them.

Maybe it was because they had all grown up together that had made Catra's hair stand on end when Rogelio and Kyle asked her that in the way they had. It wasn't like being teased for being so close to Adora was uncommon then. A part of her was still… Defensive, she supposed.

"...A lot happened." She said, letting herself relax. "You want the long version or the short version?"

Rogelio made a noise. Kyle translated, "The short version?"

"Okay, so… Basically I got abducted by the Horde fleet, and Adora saved me, we sort of worked things out and…" Catra's head moved to look down at the ground, trying to hide the red that was starting to show up on her cheeks. Her voice quietened , but it was still loud enough to be heard, "And we're together now."

"Together?"

"Don't be weird about this." Catra said, her voice a bit more firm but her emotional state a bit more awkward. "Yes, together. We're a thing now. You know…"

Kyle and Rogelio just stared at her. They had no idea what she meant.

"...A couple?"

"Oh. Oh!" That seemed to sink in for Kyle. "...Huh."

"...That's it?" Catra asked, turning back towards her old squadmate. That was seriously the only reaction that he was going to have to that particular revelation?

Seriously, after all the shit that they'd all gone through, after the entire display she had made of wanting to capture Adora and bring her back to the Horde, and after showing up on a spaceship with her after ending a war, that was the only response that he had?

"It's… Not really that shocking to be honest." Kyle said, almost bludgeoningly plainly. "You were both closer than anyone else in….Probably the entire Horde, and… Well… We all sort of figured it out you two liked each other… Ages ago."

"...Are you serious."

"You kind of slept at the foot of her bed every night - It wasn't really subtle."

Nodding, Rogelio then tapped on Kyles shoulder, and pointed towards himself with his other thumb, a smug look spreading onto his face. He made a sound, and Kyle then sighed.

"I guess so, big guy. A year is closer than what either me or Lonnie guessed…. Even if it is two years out of date."

Blinking, Catra processed that sentence. For a second she was confused by what they were talking about.

Then it hit her.

"...Did you take bets on how long it would take for Adora and I to get together?!"

Looking back at her, Kyle and Rogelio both awkwardly and sheepishly tried to then avert their eyes away from looking at her directly. A blush of embarrassment spread across both their faces, almost like the two of them had forgotten she was even there and had been caught unaware that she could hear them.

"A - A while ago… Maybe?"

"How long is a while ago?!"

"...Three years?"

"..." Catra just hid her face in her hand, and sighed. Of all the ways she had expected this conversation to go, this had not been one of them. Not even close. "...Out of curiosity, what did you even bet?"

"Like… Three ration bars." Kyle then paused. "...Is it weird I miss ration bars?"

"You do?" Catra asked, looked back at him, and raising another eyebrow. "Those things were pretty much tasteless."

"Yeah, I know, but… I dunno. I guess it just…" Finding the words to articulate what he meant was difficult. Catra could practically see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to explain himself. "...I don't know. I guess it just… I guess the idea reminds me of… Well, home, I guess."

That made Catra pause.

"I know the Horde is gone and it… Wasn't really a home. Not really." Kyle carried on. "I've been out here enough to know that, but… I guess it just reminds me when things were… Easier, I guess. Back when we were kids, you know?"

"...You know, I'm pretty sure the ship has a few leftover ration bars."

Now looking directly at her, Kyle and Rogelio blinked.

"They last a while. I think Adora made a stockpile in case they ever got lost on that thing, and, well, no one's ever needed them. Better they get eaten than they go to waste." Catra said, offering them both a small smile.

The first smile either of them had seen from her in a while.

* * *

There was something that was recognizable about Kyle's behaviour, Catra couldn't help but notice.

It was hard to pin down, but she knew there was something about how he was acting.

He always seemed to check around, he was awkward, but also… Wasn't? She could swear she kept seeing his eyes glance around whenever he said something - Anything, really.

And he was a lot happier.

Happier than when he had been in the Horde, for sure, not that that was particularly surprising. But he was with most of the same people he'd spent most of his time in the Horde with anyway, so it wasn't like he was happier because he had new company.

It reminded her of her.

She wasn't sure she could put a finger on it though.


	3. Changed

_"...Do you really wanna do this?"_

_Catra glanced at Adora, and then looked back down out the scenery around Brightmoon. The pair of them had managed to make their way onto one of the roofs of the palace, and could see for miles and miles around. It reminded her of their spot in the Fright Zone, only more colourful, and a lot less smoggy._

_Being like this reminded Catra of the old days, before Adora left the Horde. Before everything happened. When things were… Good._

_Not better._

_Not anymore._

_Things as they were right now were better. So much better. Better than the Horde. She didn't need to constantly feel the shame of not living up to expectations placed on her by Shadow Weaver or the rest of the Horde, or fear what was going to happen if she failed those expectations. She didn't need to worry what Adora thought or felt about her._

_...But she liked to remain in those memories a bit from. When things weren't as complicated, and history felt cleaner, and less stained with blood and broken knuckles and hearts. A weird sense of nostalgia, she supposed._

_Today though, those memories weren't as comforting as they were normally._

_It had been a few hours since Scorpia had rushed to tell Catra and Adora that she had managed to find Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio, and that she had been able to convince them to meet and speak with them. She'd had so much energy and passion at the idea of the people she cared about being able to resolve their issues, neither Adora nor Catra had really been able to turn her down._

_Neither of them had had time to think about it though. Not really._

_There had been so much conflict between all of them at this point, it almost felt like trying to find the pieces of a broken mirror and gluing them back together._

_Where to even begin? Adora abandoning the Horde, or Catra's abuse of power within the Horde? The dozens of times they had fought She-Ra, or the times Catra had put them all in danger? Or did they go deeper, back to their childhoods? It wasn't like growing up together had been nothing but sunshine and rainbows._

_Still… Weirder things had happened than gluing a broken mirror back together._

_"...Yeah, I…. I do." Catra replied after a few seconds of silence. "I think…. Yeah, I… I do."_

_"...Why?"_

_Looking at Adora, Catra raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

_"I just…. It's not like you ever really got on with them." Adora said, explaining herself plainly and bluntly, like she knew Catra would prefer. "It just seems… Odd, for you."_

_Her eyebrow dropped, and she shrugged. "Yeah…. Well, I guess your goody two-shoes act rubbed off on me."_

_"Come again?"_

_Now Catra turned her head to look up at the moons in the sky, letting out a long exhale as she did. "I… Adora, can I ask you something?"_

_"I just asked you something though."_

_"It's relevant, honestly."_

_Now Adora raised an eyebrow, and tilted her head. Still, she acquiesced. "Okay then. Go for it."_

_"...Do you think I've changed?"_

_The look Adora's face made told Catra that she'd managed to catch the blonde off guard. Her face went blank for a moment, and she leaned back slightly. Didn't matter how, whenever she knew she'd managed to surprise Adora, it always made her smirk._

_"Is it that big a question for you?" She teased, smiling… And feeling herself become nervous slightly at that reaction._

_It took Adora a moment to find the right words. "I… I… I don't think you've changed so much if we're talking about you being, you know… You."_

_Catra's ears flicked and gave Adora a look. Adora laughed, then carried on._

_"But you're a better person now. You do better things, you don't start fights like you used to, you're not as isolated as you were when we were in the Horde. You're… You're like how you used to be back then. But…. Well… Nicer to other people. Does that make any sense?"_

_"Kind of." Catra blinked. "A bit. I… Think…" A pause. "...I feel different. Different to how I was back then. But thats… Thats a feeling. I don't know if that's true though."_

_Adora didn't choose to interrupt. Sometimes, she'd learned, it was better to just let Catra talk. Catra normally kept her guard up about things like this, even now, partly as a force of habit. When she chose to express herself like this, the last thing Adora wanted to do was make her feel the need to be insular again, or put pressure on her._

_"I don't know, it's… It's like there's this weight that keeps being lifted off of me whenever something like this happens. I got it with Entrapta, with Scorpia, with… Well, you." she blushed lightly, but smiled. "And I… I know I don't deserve it, but I keep wanting it, but I also know it's not something you can just… Have given to you. Not usually, anyway. Entrapta and Scorpia are too nice for their own good, so they just did it anyway. With you I… I guess I wanted to prove I deserved it, but I didn't expect it either? I…"_

_She paused again._

_"...I feel guilty. For a lot of what happened. With me and them, and I… I want to show them what I'm like now, I guess. I just… I want to at least have a shot, I suppose, to… I guess let them know I regret it? That I want to fix things? Or at least just…. Tell them I'm sorry about it? I… Don't know. Doesn't that defeat the point? Isn't that selfish?"_

_"I don't think that's selfish." Adora said, plainly and simply. "I… I guess I wanted that from you as well after we rescued you from Horde Prime. I got it eventually."_

_"...Do you want to do this?" Catra asked, realizing that throughout all of this, she'd never asked Adora how she felt about all of this._

_At this question, Adora looked out at the environment outside Brightmoon, and then learned over, and rested her head on Catra's shoulder. Catra tensed for a moment from the surprise of such a sudden move, but quickly relaxed."...I… I think I'd like it if we could all spend time like we used to. As a squad."_

_"...Do you think that's possible? After everything?"_

_"...I know I want to try."_

* * *

"You finally manage to get away from your adoring fans?"

Adora checked over her shoulder as if she herself needed to make sure that she had indeed managed to break away from the crowd and that no one was following her, before she let out a sigh and leaned against the nearest waist-high dry-stone wall.

"I think so."

"How'd you get away from them this time?"

"Told them I needed to respond to a call I was getting from Glimmer."

"Lying to the people?" Catra smirked.

Letting out another sigh, and then a singular laugh, Adore glanced towards Catra. "I can go back if you like. Maybe they'll appreciate me."

"Nope."

Catra perched herself closer to Adora, and then wrapped her arms around Adora's neck, and pulled her into a hug. Her head rested to the side of Adora's, and she rubbed her cheek with hers gently.

"You're committed now. They'll figure out you lied to them if you go back. Can't have them figuring out the Mighty She-Ra was lying to them, can we?"

"What, are you my PR advisor now?"

"Comes with the territory of…" Catra paused, and then used one of her hands to vaguely point at Adora, then herself, then back to Adora, and so on and so forth. "...This, I guess."

"You mean being my girlfriend"?

That made Catra blush, and she buried her head more into her own arm where Adora's shoulder would be. It had only really been a few weeks. Getting used to hearing their relationship being referred to like that still made her heart beat that bit faster and made her fumble.

Especially when it came from Adora.

They were back at the entrance to the village again. Adora had separated from the crowd, and the excuse she had given them was only a half lie in reality - She had gotten a call, but it had been from Catra. There had been an actual reason for being here, and Catra wanted to see it through, If not for her own sake for Scorpia's peace of mind. Or at least make the attempt - That much, she owed her, she felt.

And it… Would be nice to at least… Be able to talk to people from their old squad. Maybe then things would feel like they used to.

That had been why Catra had called her. And she was happy to have some actually good news to share.

"You kinda left me alone with Kyle and Rogelio, you know." Catra said, moving her face from her arms.

"Sorry, about that."

It's alright." Catra shook her head. "We…. Talked."

"...And?"

"Well, right now they're back on the ship going through that old box of Horde ration bars you keep there. Melog's watching them. Making sure they don't break anything."

"...I'm gonna take that as, 'It went well'."

"It went about as well as it could have." Catra expanded. "They… They were willing to chat. We talked a bit about the old days, and… Everything since then." She paused. "Well, a bit. They said they noticed I was different."

"It is noticeable" Adora shrugged. "Comparatively, I mean."

"Yeah, they said the exact same thing." Catra sighed.

"...How are they?" The blonde asked, her voice showing that she still cared about her old squadmates. Leaving had never been a personal decision for her - She didn't hold ill will towards them. Catra understood that now.

For a moment, Catra considered, thinking back to see if she remembered any red flags. Only one thing crossed her mind, and that wasn't so much a red flag. More just… A flag. "...I think they're doing alright. They seem okay. Kyle especially. There's something different about him though."

"How so?"

"I dunno." She lamented. "Something about him reminds me of something. Me, actually."

"...Didn't think you'd see yourself in Kyle of all people."

"Yeah, me neither. S'why it's kinda weird."

"You uh… Say anything about before?"

Catra paused. "...No. I wanna talk with Lonnie before I do anything like that. Maybe get them all together."

"I… Kind of get the feeling she hates you."

"Yeah, I've gotten that impression too, thanks."

Running her hand along Catra's forearm, Adora sighed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be that flat about it."

"Kyle and Rogelio more or less said the same thing. Don't worry about it." Catra sighed as well. The last few weeks had been good for intro and retrospection. Enough for her to realize the sheer extent of the crap she had put people through. Being able to be with Adora, see the true face of the Horde with Horde Prime, and realize how much of her life had been a bitter-fueled hell of her own making….

It hadn't exactly been a fun realization. But, well, here she was now. At the very least trying to fix everything.

That… Had to count for something, right?

"Sorry." Adora said again, resting her head against Catra's.

Adora had easily been the most patient person with her. Helping her. Seeing her through this. Trying to help her get back on path. It was because it was Adora that Catra felt… Safe, exploring those aspects of herself? Was that the right way to describe it?

Whenever she was on her own, it always felt like her life was one step forward, another step forward, just trying to get from point A to point B, whatever it took. To look back invited a failure in the here and now, and encouraged her to doubt herself, and in the Horde, that was almost like committing suicide. Especially when it came to the ranks she found herself at.

Getting out of that headspace was… Hard. In fact, Catra could be honest and say that it was one of the hardest things she'd made herself do. And sometimes she slipped back into that way of thinking without realizing it.

But now she had Adora. And Adora had gone through a similar sort of thing. Getting used to relaxing, of learning the world outside the environment the Horde had grown her into, trying to settle into it - she'd told Catra about the struggles she'd had getting used to life in Brightmoon and Etheria at large. So she did what so could to help Catra adjust. It felt like when they were back in the Horde, when they were kids. It felt like that feeling Catra had found herself chasing throughout the entire war.

She loved Adora. What more was there to even say?

And it was because of her that now she could look back, and realize the stuff she'd done. And want to try to fix it, for her own sake as well as anyone else's.

Even when it was hard and she had no idea how to even begin sometimes.

Kyle and Rogelio had been willing to speak to her. Lonnie… Somehow she doubted it would be that easy. Her and Lonnie's issues ran a lot further back.

"...Don't suppose you have any idea what I should try with her?" Catra asked, her voice heavy, already able to tell that what was to come wasn't going to be pleasant.

Adora didn't answer. "I mentioned it earlier. We… Aren't on good terms either. Maybe we should try talking to her together."

"Maybe. D'you know where she even went?"

"I saw her a while ago. She was working on a wall on the other side of the village."

Catra blinked. She then looked at the wall she was perched on. There was no way that the builders that were busy repairing the Kingdoms and the affected areas were this far out already, yet the place seemed to be halfway through reconstruction. The walls looked almost new.

"...Huh. That would explain why this place isn't a pile of ruins… And why the outskirts of this place don't look like a warzone. They must be helping rebuild this place."

"One of the villagers mentioned that." Adora said. "They're not too particular who's from where, so long as they help out."

"Guess that explains why they haven't run them out yet. I'd've expected a place like this to have run out anyone who used to work for the Horde." Catra finally let go of Adora, and stood upright while still perched on said wall, so she had a few feet on Adora now. She stretched, and then looked around. "I guess we should get this over with."

Before she could hop down though, her eyes caught a glance of something on the outer side of the wall. She knelt down to get a closer look - It looked like a hammer of some kind. She reached down to grab it, before she held it up for Adora to see it.

It looked like a Horde-style hammer.

"You wanna put odds on this being Lonnie's?" Catra asked, tilting her head. "Or do you reckon this place managed to raid a Horde supply camp?"

Adora tilted her own head and inspected it briefly. It didn't take her long. "I'll put money on it being Lonnie's." She said simply.

"Yeah, so would I." Catra agreed, hopping off the wall and back onto the inner side, before she examined the hammer. She weighed it in her hand. Heavy enough for the jobs Lonnie would be doing if Adora was right. Sturdy, strong. Definitely a Horde model - The emblem of the Horde was engraved on the bottom of the handle now that she looked. "Well, it's an icebreaker I suppose. Just got to hope she doesn't try to knock our heads in with it I guess."

She turned and took a few steps towards the inner village, hoping that somehow she would get a spot of Lonnie, and would be able to figure it out from there.

"Hey, Catra?"

Adora called out Catra's name from behind her, and Catra turned to look at her. She had a smile - That one particular smile she gave to her, and no one else - On her face.

"...I'm proud of you. For doing all of this." She said, warmly. "I know it can't be easy - It's not exactly a walk in the park for me either - But… I'm proud of you for working at this."

That look and that sentiment combined made Catra's heart beat, and her hair all stand on end. She quickly broke eye contact and tried to find a very interesting pile of dirt to look at to try to stop the red on her cheeks appearing. It didn't work all that great.

"I blame you for this, you know."

"I'm happy taking the blame for this."

It was only ever going to be Adora that could do this to her, Catra knew. Easily it was only ever going to be her. Part of her hated that she loved that feeling.

The other part loved it in equal measure.

* * *

A lot of work had already been done in this village. There were clearly some buildings which had been renovated and repaired, new bricks being brighter than the old bricks, being one of the easiest giveaways. Street paths were rearranged so that they could be used when they were otherwise unusable due to damage, and temporary fixes like wooden planking had been used to fix the roads for the time being. Tools and the likes seemed scattered all over the place, and some of the work looked amateurish.

Actually looking at the architecture revealed just how old this village was, and how new the reparations were. The village would probably always look like a jigsaw of history now, hundreds of years old buildings rebuilt with recent stone and brick. Dark, worn down stone, holding up the same roof as new, clean stone. That couldn't be helped.

Somehow there was also a charm to it that Catra couldn't quite place. Though that might have been because architecture and aesthetics were optional back in the Fright Zone - Pure, ruthlessly efficient utilitarianism ruled there. Steel looked the same no matter how old it was. Even the rust would look the same given a bit of time. Things here were more pronounced. Visually loud. Like everywhere else outside the Fright Zone.

Catra couldn't help but find herself developing an appreciation for architecture the more she saw of Etheria. It was hard not to after the environments she'd grown up in.

As they made their way through the village, some of the villagers once more quickly surrounded Adora to fawn over her like before, though this time she tried to quickly and kindly explain to them that she was busy right now. Catra laughed to herself and left her to it, taking a glance around the area, wondering if she'd be able to spot Lonnie, or anything that might give her an insight as to where she was.

She got lucky with the former.

Just as Adora had said, Lonnie was working on a half-built wall, that was similar to the one that they had passed to enter the village - The border wall, Catra supposed. It was another dry stone wall, so it didn't need anything like cement or the likes. Just stones and buckets of filling for the interior.

When Catra caught sight of her, it was in the middle of her unloading a bucket of filling into the space between the stones. Her back was turned to Catra as she did so. She didn't see her.

Glancing behind her, Catra looked for Adora, seeing her still trying to convince the villagers to let her go. She took a step towards Adora intending to help her out of the bind she was in. Then she stopped, and looked back at Lonnie. She and Adora had planned to speak to her together… But the more Catra thought about it, the more she wondered if that would be a good idea.

There were still plenty of reasons Lonnie had to be angry with both of them over. She was still actively furious, more so than Kyle or Rogelio, or maybe even both of them combined.

Would them both approaching her at once really be the best idea here?

She considered for a moment. Then she looked at the hammer in her hand, and then back at Adora. She thought for a moment.

Then she turned and made her way down the path herself.


	4. Supposed To Do

There was a clear frustration in the way Lonnie worked.

It was visible in the way she moved, the way she built, and the way she would carelessly toss rocks vaguely where they were supposed to go, deciding that would be good enough, and then continuing on. It was easy enough to recognize, because Catra had found herself doing the same from time to time back in the Horde.

Work to distract her from the feelings and frustrations she'd suffered then. Sometimes it meant that the work suffered in terms of quality, but quality wasn't on the mind when one was in that state. Just a distraction.

One thing she'd learned from that though?

Typically, she didn't want to be interrupted when she was in that state of mind.

And perhaps if they had more time here than the one day they had set aside to visit here before returning to the rest of the rebuilding work they would have to do before setting out into the wider universe to return magic to it, Catra would have let that feeling be respected. Right now she didn't have much of a choice though.

Though she certainly was starting to regret doing this on her own.

"I'm gonna guess this is yours."

When she spoke, she was about six feet away from Lonnie. The working woman either hadn't seen her, or had and had chosen to just ignore her approach. Whatever the case was, when she heard Catra speak, Lonnie paused for a solid three seconds, before she actually turned to face her former squadmate. Not her full body though - She stood so her front was facing the wall, her shoulders pointed towards Catra, and her head turned to look in the same direction. Her expression was that of a glare.

She didn't look surprised. Just irritated.

Catra presented the hammer in her hand, holding it up clearly so that Lonnie would be able to see the hammer. It probably didn't take Lonnie more than a glance to recognize the thing, but she stared at it for a few seconds, like she was expecting Catra to do something with it. When she seemed satisfied that Catra wasn't going to do… Anything with it, she looked back at Catra.

"Yeah. That's mine."

A few more seconds passed, this time in total silence.

"...Do you want it?" Catra asked, eyebrow raised.

"Just drop it on the ground there."

Doing as instructed, Catra tossed the hammer roughly halfway towards Lonnie, letting it hit the ground. Lonnie then stepped forward and picked it up, weighing it in her hand once it was back in her palm. The entire time she didn't stop glaring at Catra though, still expecting some kind of jump attack. She pointedly didn't thank, or show any sort of appreciation for the hammers return.

She then turned back towards the rocks she was moving, and then suddenly slammed the hammer against one.

The force from Lonnie's physical strength, the weight of the hammer, the design of the hammer, and what Catra could only assume was fury personified, all combined to shatter the rock into a few dozen pieces. Once the shards settled, Lonnie scooped them up into the bucket - Filling for the inside of the walls.

A shiver made its way up Catra's spine on reflex once the hammer hit the rock. That explained why she was using a hammer for a dry-stone wall, she supposed, though she reckoned that that particular display was designed to speak to Catra without actually speaking to her.

To get across that she wasn't in the mood to be friendly with her, and make it clear what exactly she could do if she felt like it.

"...You're welcome." The short-haired woman muttered, folding her arms, and glancing sideways.

"Hey," Evidently, Lonnie heard it. She turned back towards Catra, showing that same glare again, and pointing at her with the hammer, "if you've got something you want to say to me, I'd suggest you just say it and get it done with."

"Take it easy!" Catra responded quickly, holding her hands in front of her and her palms towards Lonnie, as if to show she had nothing in her palms. "I'm not here because I want a fight!"

"For the first time in your entire life I'm guessing." Lonnie retorted plainly.

"I'm serious." Catra repeated herself, now letting her arms fall to her sides. "I just wanted to…. I don't know…. Talk about things?"

"Likely story."

"I'm seri - "

"Talk about what, exactly, huh Catra?" Lonnie spoke with a much colder voice now, but eerily calm, not raising even a decibel. "Because I've got a list of the shit you've pulled over the last eighteen years. Where'd you want to start? Or were you just gonna go back as far as when you made Force Captain? Or until you started nearly getting everyone killed? How far back exactly are we talking here?"

That made Catra flinch. When she was younger, she had had her issues with Lonnie, Kyle, Rogelio, and... Most people in the Horde if she really thought about it. Pretty much everyone except Adora, and even then, they'd fought.

"Well?" Lonnie asked, opening her arms and then letting them fall back to her sides. "Did you wanna patch that all up or did you think everything up until you lost your mind was alright?"

There was a list of things Catra had done, and unlike her, Lonnie had been keeping track it seemed. If she hadn't become their Force Captain, Catra wondered if Lonnie would have taken the opportunity to tear into her the minute Adora left.

For the first time since arriving here, it fully hit Catra that there was a hell of a lot more here that she was going to need to answer for than she even remembered.

She barely even remembered everything she and Lonnie had clashed over.

No doubt it was over stupid stuff - Her mind went back to when she thought Adora was going to abandon her for Lonnie, and her response had been to punch the latter. There were maybe one or two other major examples she could remember. But she didn't… Remember any of it the rest of it.

Because she'd never bothered to. She'd never thought she'd need to.

"...I … I'll be honest." Catra swallowed, and bit the inside of her lower lip. "... I don't remember everything that's ever happened between us - "

"Shocker. "

"- But I'm not joking here!"

"So you would've come here even if Scorpia hadn't asked you to?"

"If - If I'd know you were here, yes!"

"Forgive me if I struggle to believe that, Force Captain."

"I would have! Adora's been - "

"It's _always_ someone else!" At that, Lonnie exploded and yelled, and Catra's sensitive hearing only amplified the shock that would have run through anyone else's body. "Every time anything happens, it's always someone else with you! Every single time you made us all risk our necks, it was because Hordak or Entrapta or someone else needed some useless pile of junk, or because you had some kind of vendetta against Adora, or there was definitely some sort of Rebel threat the rest of the Horde didn't know about but you did - Every time it was you pushing it onto someone else!"

It hadn't been an excuse Catra had been about to throw out - It was supposed to be an explanation of why she wanted to even be here, but to Lonnie, it had sounded like every other excuse she'd ever heard from her former squadmate. That fact barely surprised Catra.

At that, Catra just let Lonnie yell at her - Gods knew that nothing she tried was gonna make her stop anyway. And it wasn't like she didn't have good reason to be yelling at her.

Didn't stop those words from feeling like knives though.

"You couldn't ever own your own crap! Every time it was someone else's fault! Never yours, was it?! There was always another reason, someone else to pin the blame onto! And that wasn't even the worst of it! We tried - We tried our best to work with you! Kyle, Rogelio, me - We all tried to get along with you, but every time, it was you who pushed us back! So long as Adora was around you didn't give a damn about us - And then she leaves and you still push us away! At every turn we tried to do our best by you because you were in our squad! That was what we were **_supposed to do!_** "

Catra couldn't even deny that.

Lonnie's breathing was off by this point. She took a few deep breaths, before she kept going. This time, quieter. "And what'd that get us? Stuck in a truck a few miles from the Fright Zone, and our old squadmate leaving us to dry and nearly get killed. Kyle almost died because of you - We all almost died because of you." Another breath. "Do you remember the last time we spoke?"

All Catra could do was nod.

"There was nothing I could have said that wouldn't have had you snap at me like that was there?"

Catra shook her head.

"I didn't think so." Lonnie sighed. "...And then what? You show up with her after all of that, and… What? Did you think you were going to sort all this out in a few hours and be back at the Princess Round table before night-out? You think any of that with the Galactic Horde - Any of that - Changes what you did to any of us? Maybe that'll work for Kyle and Rogelio - That's their business, I don't care what they make of you - But it ain't gonna work on me. If you think that - " Lonnie jabbed her finger towards Catra, then back at herself, and repeated the motion a few times. " - This is gonna be solved right here and now, you're deluding yourself."

Silence came after that. Lonnie had been yelling for longer, and louder than even she realized. When she took the time to stop, her breathing was heavy. In, out, in, out, though she didn't look away from Catra for a second of it, like she still expected her to pounce and strike her for whatever insane reason was floating around in her head.

For a while that was the only noise there was. It wasn't until Lonnie had got her breath back that Catra finally decided to speak, tepidly, and carefully.

"...Are you done?"

"...Yeah." Another sigh, this one much heavier. "For now, anyway. I'm too tired to care to bring up every single thing you've pulled right now."

"...Okay..." Catra said, nodding slightly. "... Look, I… I'm not here to justify myself."

Lonnie rolled her eyes.

"...Because I don't think I _can_."

Lonnie blinked, and then returned her eyes to Catra.

"I... " Catra kept running through different words in her mind, trying to find the right ones to get across what she wanted to here. None of them sounded right. What words could even sound right here?

None of them sounded like she wasn't trying to avoid responsibility. And back in the Horde, she probably wouldn't have cared. Now she did.

It wasn't like she could just apologize and that would be that. Not here. Not now.

"...There's no explanation I can give that won't sound like an excuse." She admitted, her shoulders slumping. "I don't… Have a good reason. Not for when I was Force Captain. Not when I was Hordak's second in command. Not when we were younger. I don't… Have an explanation I can give you that makes everything okay."

Part of it almost felt like admitting defeat, even though there wasn't supposed to be a winner or a loser here. It was a similar feeling though, at least to Catra. She'd put so much effort into trying to improve, and now she was face to face with someone who pushed back at her, she didn't know what to say. What to do.

It felt like she'd failed outright suddenly - Like the only reason she'd made whatever progress she had up until this point was because she'd gotten surrounded by the most _sickeningly nice and forgiving_ people in the entire universe.

She couldn't even explain herself without feeling like she was coming up with excuses.

 _That_ sickened her.

"...Well, that's a start. If nothing else."

Looking back to Lonnie, Catra saw that the expression of raw discontent had softened to… Discontent, but now no longer a step away from breaking her skull in.

"Alright. So it's not an excuse. Glad we got that out of the way." She said, placing the hammer on the ground next to the wall, then stepping away from it. Like a symbol that she wasn't going to fight Catra here after all. Her arms folded though, and her glare continued. "So let's hear the explanation."

"W...Why?"

"Because I want to know exactly why you put us all through that crap you did. Good reason, bad reason, whatever - I just want to know why."

There were a hundred different reasons for that. Many were contradictory reasons, and many made sense only to Catra. Many were deeply personal, that went into how lonely she felt and how angry she was. How spite had fueled her. How she misplaced all her emotions into work, or the wrong person.

How she felt she was a broken person. The only person who ever heard that part was Adora. And Melog, if Melog counted, Catra supposed. That, and everything that came with that, Catra kept to herself. That, she wasn't willing to share.

The rest though, she told Lonnie of. Bit by bit.

About the rage she felt after Adora left, and the same emptiness she felt because of it.

About how abandoned and alone she felt, and how she didn't know what else to do or who to turn to.

About how it felt like power was the only thing to fill that void. How she was wrong about that.

About how she felt like that would be the only way to prove herself. How that had been a lie too.

About how, in the moment, then and there, her desire to see the Rebellion crushed was genuine. How she, in that moment, believed in everything that she was doing. How she truly thought what she was doing was just, and for the good of the Horde.

About how she deluded herself into that mentality.

About how for so much of the last few years she had felt like she'd been trying to break out of a cage of nothing but anger and regret.

About… So many things that had been cluttered up in her brain.

Because if nothing else, Lonnie deserved to hear that, after everything that had happened. And how Kyle and Rogelio did too, if they wanted to.

Because that was all she could offer.

Because she didn't know how else to make it right.

Forgiven or not.

Eventually, Adora managed to break away from the crowds that had kept her back, and had found them. By that point though, Catra had explained the reasons for why she did what she did.

She found two women who looked emotionally exhausted. Catra, looking at the floor in what looked like shame, and Lonnie, looking right at her, vacantly, like she was zoned out.

"A...Are you two alright?" She asked, not sure what else to even do here. She had expected yelling, or at least talking. Not… This.

"...Adora. Walk with me." Were the first words Lonnie said to the blonde when she arrived. "I… You and I need to talk as well, but I need to talk to Kyle and Rogelio."

"Er… Sure?" Adora agreed hesitantly, glancing to Catra. Looking up, Catra nodded back at her, telling her it was alright.

And so the two of them left. Once out of earshot, Catra let out a long sigh, and slumped against the half-built wall.

Explaining everything had been Lonnie's terms for a fair hearing.

That was fair.

...But Catra despised every second of that.

Remembering how she used to be.

Feeling like that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

No matter what.

And knowing that it would…

...Because she wasn't even sure if she could forgive herself.

By chance, she looked up, and could see Adora and Lonnie walking off, but Adora turned back to look at her.

And gave her a thumbs up.

Catra smiled in amusement. A small gesture.

Right now though, it made everything feel just a little bit better.


	5. Exhausted

It was impossible to not wonder what exactly was said between Lonnie, Adora, Kyle and Rogelio were talking about.

Not all that long ago, Lonnie and Adora had headed back to the ship. On the way they would be talking. About what, Catra didn't have a clue. Adora would be having her own talks with Kyle and Rogelio as well, Catra supposed. They all had their own list of issues they needed to figure out.

Somehow she had an idea that Adora talking to everyone would be a lot easier than her talking to them - And that was even under a context where Kyle and Rogelio barely pushed against her. She had the feeling they'd offer Adora even less pushback.

Despite being on literal opposing ends of a war, it felt like they had less bad blood with Adora than they had had with Catra.

If she wasn't so introspective these days, that completely on it's own would have said more than enough of how she had acted before.

She wondered what conversations they had to be having on the ship right now as she wandered aimlessly throughout the village. There wasn't a whole lot else she could really do to kill time, and just sitting by an uncompleted wall while staring into space wasn't helping to pass time. Time already felt like it was at a crawl, at least doing something as minor as walking around would be of some distraction for that.

Were it not for her own thoughts, anyway.

Occasionally, someone would see her, and sometimes it seemed like they recognized her - If that was as someone who fought with the Rebellion in the final stages of the war, or had come this way as a conquering warlord, Catra couldn't tell. She didn't remember coming up around here with the Horde, but it was equally possible that someone from this village had been present for one of the many other invasions she'd taken part in elsewhere on Etheria.

But she didn't spend too much time focusing on that though. If she went down that road she wasn't going to get back off of it. Her mind was more preoccupied with everything that had happened today.

Everyone she'd spoken to.

Was it even midday? Catra had no idea.

Today felt like it had dragged on for hours and hours but really, how long had they been here? Gods, Catra knew she woke up about… Four hours ago?

...Maybe five?

Had they even been here an hour? She didn't know.

Maybe it had been longer than she thought, she really had no idea. Time was a blur right about now. The last few days had blurred into one giant amorphous mass, and that hadn't even been with all the stress of seeing her old squadmates. All she knew was that she was exhausted and wanted to rest.

This whole 'Being open about emotions' thing was more tiring than it looked.

And it looked exhausting.

She couldn't head back to the ship though - She didn't know if Lonnie and Adora were done talking, or if her presence there would help or hinder anything. Wasn't like the ship was tiny - she could go there and be more or less completely out of sight… Though she didn't feel like risking it and intruding in on something.

If the situation was less serious, maybe she would have. It might've been funny, might've loosened up some tension, and would've let her get someplace actually comfortable to rest.

Right now though she didn't want to. She was too uncertain of if that would screw something up.

If she screwed things over just for her, that would be one thing.

She wasn't going to screw things up for Adora though.

Instead, she just went back to the wall nearest the ship - Near the entrance to the village, next to the forest - Sat on the exterior side of said wall, and leaned back against it. Rocks weren't exactly comfortable to lean against, but she was off her feet and right about now that was all that she asked for.

A long, loud sigh escaped her once the weight was off her feet, and her eyes closed for a few seconds as she adjusted herself to the feel of the rocks and tried to make herself as comfy as possible. Eventually she found a position that was probably as comfortable as it was going to get, and opened her eyes up and looked at the sky. No clouds or anything. Just clear skies.

Everything felt still.

First time in a while Catra felt like everything was just… Still.

A deep, long exhale followed.

...Still...

Even after helping save Etheria there always felt like there was some sort of… Something that had to be done. A celebration or a meeting or a…. Something or other. Adora thrived in that environment. And it wasn't like Catra couldn't handle it, but the way everyone outside the Horde operated was less structured. More chance for the immense number of random events that no one could expect. It got tiring sometimes.

Naturally though, her mind wandered back to the conversations being had on the ship, and what Adora and the others were having to talk to one another about. She found herself anxious about them on Adora's behalf. If Catra were the only one talking to them all, maybe she wouldn't have felt like this from the get - go. Maybe the pressure would have been off.

This was important to Adora though, on a personal level, and after her own experiences with Scorpia and Entrapta, Catra understood that entirely.

She just hoped that it was going well for Adora, regardless of if the others gave a damn what she herself had had to say.

At some point, Catra closed her eyes. It was hard not to think about the day she'd had already, and how much she didn't know about what everyone thought of her right about now.

That was weird. She'd never been too concerned about what other people thought of her before. It was still something she was getting used to. Along with pretty much every other change she'd had to make in her life because of Adora, and everything that happened.

Those thoughts always felt complicated. They had in part defined her life.

Her wanting to prove she was as capable as Adora was, mostly to Adora herself. Wanting to fill the void Adora left with the feeling of pride at being stronger than her. Time and time again, altering plan after plan to deal with Adora. Going against Horde Prime had been the one choice she had made that had next to nothing to do with Adora. And everything after felt like her choice after. She could have just run off once they got back to even did once.

Then she came back. And that was her choice.

Each new choice took getting used to, like she was getting her footing in uncharted land. And with it came a new set of complicated emotions.

Coming here again had been a choice she'd made of her own volition. And she didn't know what the outcome was going to be.

But she was glad that she had made the choice to come here. If nothing else, she could at least say that she had tried.

She yawned, and leaned against the wall. It was going to stay on her mind no matter what she did until it was over. All she could do was wait.

…

… Why hadn't Kyle and Rogelio pushed back against her? That was something that was in her mind that wouldn't leave no matter how hard she tried to get it out.

Lonnie had made the most sense - It had been difficult speaking to her, but it had made the most sense for her to react in the way that she had out of everyone. Klye and Rogelio barely even brought up their time back in the Horde, and that was odd to her.

She wasn't unaware enough to think that she didn't deserve flak for it. Everyone on the planet had the right to give her flak for it. But it seemed like so few people were actually giving her flak for it.

It wasn't like helping save Etheria… Removed all the crap that she'd done. That wasn't how this was supposed to work, was it? People still had reason to be angry with her.

The fact people didn't seem to be… Almost made her feel guilty for it.

Difficult as the talk had been, at least Lonnie had held her to some sort of accountability. At least there she wasn't just being… She didn't know. Something about it just bugged her.

...Maybe because she remembered how hard she'd tried to avoid responsibility for her screw ups back in the Horde, and how it had ended up hurting people she gave a damn about. Now the only person she could hold accountable was herself. And she had no idea what she was doing in that regard.

Did it make sense that she wanted to be held to that accountability now? Or was it her wanting to feel like she'd actually paid the price for what she'd done wrong?

…

…

…

* * *

…

...

...Two realizations came to Catra rapidly, one after the other.

The first was that she was being nudged awake. Opening her eyes up, and looking for the source, she learned that it was Melog who was nudging her awake. Absentmindedly, she patted the creature on the head, smiling softly at it.

The second was that she had fallen asleep.

That realization woke her up quickly. She sat herself up and looked around. The sky was still as blue as it was when she had dozed off, but now there were a couple of small clouds overhead. Nothing that would mean rain or anything, but it was an indicator of time at least. The skies had been clear not too long ago.

"Melog?" Catra muttered absently as she looked around, half awake, before returning her attention to her animal companion. The creature nuzzled against her cheek affectionately, tickling Catra. "Alright, alright, I'm up." Catra said, putting an arm between her and Melog to stop them, but smiling all the same. "How long've I been out?"

Her companion 'Spoke' to her - Catra still didn't fully understand how exactly she could understand when Melog spoke, but at this point she'd just grown to accept that this was a thing now - and informed her that it had been two hours since Adora returned to the ship without her.

"Two hours?" Catra blinked. She'd been asleep that long?

Getting up onto her feet, she glanced around the place. She certainly felt more refreshed now, that was for sure. It had been a rest she needed, it turned out.

And had killed time, she supposed. Not like there was a whole lot else she could have been doing in the meantime.

"Hey, Melog." Catra asked, turning to the imprinted creature. "Are Adora and the others done with their… Talks, yet?"

The answer came in the affirmative. And that that was why Melog was even out here - To find her and bring her back to the ship.

Catra exhaled lightly, and looked in the direction the ship was in. It wouldn't take long to get there from here. A few minutes at the most. That felt like a while right about now though. If they were done with their talks, then that meant that they had to be coming to some sort of…. Verdict, she guessed?

Or at least, something had to have been decided, right?

"Well… We're not gonna get there any faster just standing here." Catra muttered under her breath. "Come on." she said to Melog, and started making her way back.


	6. One, Two, Three, Four, Five

"I was starting to wonder if you'd run off."

As soon as she was within earshot of the ship, Catra was greeted by Adora's teasing. She must have spotted the feline girl from the ship's cockpit or something, and made her way to the ramp to greet her, as when Catra first saw her, she was halfway down the ramp already, and making her way down to the ground level.

There was a visible energy to her - One that Catra hadn't seen all day. She seemed less anxious and more happy. More relaxed. More like, well, how she normally was, before this whole series of events had been thrown into motion.

Her talks with the others must have gone well, Catra guessed.

"Unfortunately not." Catra replied with a smirk once she was closer. "You've not gotten rid of me that easily."

"That's a victory in my book." Adora answered with a smug expression, folding her arms like she had accomplished a victory of some sort.

Catra rolled her eyes, still smirking as she came to a stop at the foot of the ramp, a hand on her waist and an eyebrow raised. "You look like you're in a good mood. Everything go well?"

"Can't I ever just be happy to see you?"

Melog took the opportunity to quickly make it's way over to Adora, where it rubbed itself against her leg like an affectionate cat would. That made Adora's smug smirk just grow wider and wider as she scratched the creature behind the ears - Given that Melog was essentially a conduit for Catra's emotions at any given time, it's affectionate attitude towards Catra told her girlfriend pretty much everything she needed.

Awkwardly avoiding Adora's look, Catra looked to the sides, trying to hide the reddening of her cheeks. "Something tells me that you wouldn't be this happy to see me if your chats with those three had gone horrendously."

Adora shrugged, and looked back up the ramp. The bright look on her face didn't go anywhere. "I think they went well. Really well."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Adora turned back to Catra, and took a few steps closer to her. "We talked a lot about how stuff used to be back in the Horde, back when we were kids - It was… Fun."

The smile on her face grew. Presumably she was going over the chats that they all had. Her memories of childhood were more pleasant than Catra's had been. It wasn't something Catra imagined she'd be able to share with Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio, but seeing the smile on Adora's face made her smile too.

"Did you… Talk about me? Or, well, us, I guess?"

"I, er, told Lonnie about us." Adora confessed, glancing aside and scratching the back of her own head. "It seemed uh, relevant."

"How'd she take it?"

"She was… Not surprised."

Catra nodded, nonplussed. "Yeah, Rogelio and Kyle weren't either… You know they took bets on how long it'd take us to end up together?"

"...That would explain why Kyle said Lonnie 'Lost'." Adora said flatly, in a moment of realization. "I didn't know what the heck he was talking about."

"Well, there you go." Catra shrugged, folding her arms. "That's what he meant."

A small smile crept onto her expression, thinking back to whatever moments might have given up how she felt about Adora back in the Horde. She wondered if there was any one moment, or if it was a series of smaller moments that built up the idea in all their heads. From her perspective, she's always been in love with Adora, so it was hard for her to put a pin in exactly where those feelings became prominent and paramount, and made her wonder if it had been obvious from day one for everyone else.

Her mind drifted to the one incident where she got overly upset with Adora for spending any time with Lonnie at all when they were both still children, when she had literally no self control whatsoever. How she'd lashed out like she had against both Adora and Lonnie, how much like garbage she felt about it, but refused to back down over it.

To her, that was probably the earliest point where she realized that Adora meant so much more to her than anyone else. She wondered if that was similar for the others.

Bringing herself back to reality though, Catra noticed that there had been an expression change in Adora. There was still a smile there, but it looked more… Worried. Anxious.

Good memories mixed with bad, apprehension about the future, and the wonder if those good times would come again after everything was said and done. Like a pre-emptive nostalgia.

It wasn't hard to spot. Catra had found herself feeling the same way after Adora left the Horde.

She felt bad for bringing it up, but she felt like she needed to know. If she was going to face them again, and… This was going to come up, then she needed to know what was said between them and Adora. So she at least knew where the others were coming from in a small way.

"It went a lot better than I thought it would." Adora carried on. "Lonnie didn't seem… As angry as I thought she'd be. I mean, she was still… Really angry, but I kind of expected to get punched. We actually got to… Talk. Figure things out."

"...Did… You talk about the war?"

"...Yeah…" Adora's voice became a bit more serious. Her face twitched as she was trying to find the right words to explain it.

Her face and voice didn't become negative - Not outright. It was more akin to having to remember a less happy time than it was an absolute nightmare scenario.

"It… I think it was always more personal for them than anything."

"Personal?"

"Like it… Like it was a personal spite towards them, more than it was me leaving the Horde in of itself." The blonde woman explained. "Leaving the Horde was… I guess neutral, now. Leaving them… Wasn't. I think that's what their issue was."

"Ah." Catra nodded. "... We have that in common, I guess." She muttered. She then saw Adora's expression, and clarified. "The… You know. Taking it personally thing. It's… It's not like I did much better on that front."

Adora nodded, and relaxed her expression. The two of them stood in silence for a little while, and a breeze ran through the area. Adora wrapped her arm around Catra so her hand rested on her furthest away shoulder.

"...Everything was a mess, huh?"

"That's putting it lightly."

"Yeah…" Adora sighed, pulling Catra closer to her into a one-armed hug. "Still… We're here now. There's nothing we can really do about the way things were and everything that's happened."

"...I'm… I'm glad that they're okay with you, at least."

It was the only sentiment Catra could think to offer. She wasn't sure what else she could even say.

"...Do you want to see them now?"

A pause. "...Can we just… Stay like this for a minute?" Catra's tail wrapped itself around Adora's forearm.

Right now was comfortable. Being like this was comfortable. Catra liked this. She liked right now. She wasn't sure what she was going to be feeling in the next few minutes, so she wanted to enjoy this while she could.

Her girlfriend understood, and nodded. "Sure." Adora kissed Catra's cheek as she answered, and then rested her head on her shoulders like she liked to do.

For a short while, they just stood like that, comfortably silent. No noise or words needing to be exchanged. They were just comfortable right now. They enjoyed the breeze and the quiet. They enjoyed the comfort they gave one another.

"...You know how I mentioned Kyle seemed different?" Catra asked after a few moments.

"Yeah?"

"You spot it too?"

"Yeah." Adora confirmed. She spoke softly though. "Nothing I can really point at, but you're right. There's something there." She paused for a moment. "I don't think it's something different though."

"No?"

"It… I dunno. It seems like it's something more…. Enhanced, I guess? More prominent? Like…" Adora tried to come up with a comparison quickly. "...Like Bow, I guess. Like how he's good with tech but it was more obvious the more comfy he got with the idea of being a techmaster and just got better at it. "

"..." Catra looked down at Adora. "...The guy who literally arms his arrows with magnifying glasses modified into them didn't know what he was doing with them at the same time-frame I was trying to beat you all?"

"He's been fairly good with tech since I met him. Like i said - Put him in s situation he's more comfortable in and it enhances more."

Considering, Catra thought back. Maybe that was the case. It wasn't like Kyle and her had been particularly close. Certainly not as close as he had been with Adora, comparatively. Maybe it was just something she was noticing for the first time.

After that exchange, the two opted to just enjoy one another's presence again, until they separated.

They were going to have to deal with this eventually.

* * *

When Catra entered the bridge room, she could see two things.

The first was the obvious - She could see Kyle, Lonnie and Rogelio, all bunched up together. They didn't seem to be talking to one another - Catra couldn't hear them if they were, even with her enhanced hearing. Rogelio would have to be whispering if they were talking, since he had his back to her when she entered the room.

The second thing she noticed were the wrappers of ration bars just sort of… Thrown into a corner near them. Catra blinked - How many of them had they gone through? Did they seriously miss them that much?

Or maybe it was just the sense of nostalgia they gave.

It was Kyle who noticed the entry of Catra and Adora first. When he saw them, he sat upright and kept his focus on them. The other two noticed him, and turned to see what he was seeing. Then they all stood up.

"I er… See you took to the Ration Bars." Catra noted, blinking a couple of times at the pile of wrappers, in slight disbelief.

Rogelio grunted, and pointed a thumb at Kyle, and chuckled as he did.

"Yeah… Sorry about that." Kyle sheepishly apologized, scratching the side of his cheek. "That... Might've been mostly me."

"You… Really missed those things, huh."

Kyle just awkwardly nodded, though he was able to chuckle at himself.

"I just remember them being completely tasteless." Adora muttered quickly to Catra. Catra just shrugged.

There was a brief moment where there didn't feel like there was any real hostility between any of them. Like it was them in the locker rooms again, talking about whatever was going on around them. Just a brief moment of calm before the storm, but Catra took hold of it while she had the chance. Melog ran it's head underneath Catra's hand. She rested it on their head.

It was her that broke the moment with a sigh. The part of her that wanted to get this over with was larger than the part that wanted to hold onto that moment. "Okay… Well, you sent Melog out to find me. I gotta guess you've got… Something to say about… What we talked about."

"Yeah." Lonnie confirmed, stepping forward. "We've talked about it."

Reflecting the anxiety of her companion, Melog seemed to become a bit smaller, and seemed to position itself more behind Catra. Catra herself held her breath without even realizing it. Adora took hold of Catra's other hand, and squeezed onto it, reminding Catra that she was still there.

"Do you want me to go or…"

"You're fine. Adora. You can stay if you want."

That was a comfort. Catra was thankful for that.

"Can…" Catra took a deep breath to top of what she had been holding in, before she made herself speak again. "Can I say something first?"

All eyes fell on her. Adora's too. Even Catra herself wasn't sure what she was doing.

Just a compulsion to say what she wanted to say.

The three old squadmates all glanced at one another, waiting to see if any of the others had any sort of objection. No one made one though. Curiosity at what Catra wanted to say won out over them saying what they wanted to.

Rogelio grunted, and gave a thumbs up. Kyle translated.

"Er, go for it?"

Once more, Catra took a deep breath, this time through her nose, and closed her eyes in doing she did, she squeezed onto Adora's hand, tight.

"...You all spoke with Adora, right?"

A series of nods followed.

"I… Look. I… I don't know what exactly you want to do regarding me right now. I… Can't… And won't be able to force you to do anything you don't want to." She felt her teeth clenched together. "...Don't take that out on Adora though."

Adora turned. "Catra?"

"Whatever issues they have with me, it's not right that that gets put onto you." Catra defended, turning to look Adora straight in the eye, before turning back to the others. "This matters to her a bunch. She said your talks with her went well. Just… Just don't group her in with me with this - "

"We weren't planning on it." Lonnie interrupted. "Adora and us're cool. Cool as it's gonna get for right now, anyway. You two are different people. You've done different things. So we'll treat you that way. You two being a thing isn't changing that."

Catra sighed, relieved. At least Adora wasn't going to be dragged down with her if things went south now.

"You didn't need to do that." Adora whispered. "D'you really think that I'm going to just leave you and spend all my time here?"

"You should have the option if you want it." Catra responded. "I'm not dragging people down for my screw ups anymore."

The sentiment appreciated, Adora smiled at Catra. Unnecessary as it might've been, she couldn't help but smile.

"Is that it?" Lonnie asked, folding her arms. "You have anything else you wanna say before we do this?"

"...Yeah. I do." Catra answered, looking back at the three of them.

She didn't have a clue what the right words were going to be here. She never knew what the right words were to use in situations like this, this entire time had been more akin to her figuring it out on the fly and just trying to be honest where she could. It seemed to work out so far. Didn't mean she trusted it.

But it wasn't like she had any other options either.

"...I know that I've been… Well… Not great to any of you, back when we were in the Horde." She started, finding it harder and harder to look any of them in the eye. So she faced the flood. "Before I was even a Force Captain, or anything like that. So much stuff that I… I don't remember all of it. I… I don't even know where to really begin with all of it."

Taking a glance, she could see the discomfort on Kyle and Rogelio's faces, as they remembered their time in the Horde with Catra. They hadn't spoken a lot with her about everything. Now they were being reminded of them. She looked away again.

"I… I could explain why I did it. I already did that with Lonnie. It wouldn't be an excuse, it would… Be an explanation. And I… If you want me to, I will, that's the least that I owe you, given everything that happened. I'm not… Looking to justify myself, or clear my conscious, or anything like that. I just…"

Her hands balled up into fists. Finding the right words was so difficult.

"...It wasn't right. Not when we were kids. Not when I was a Force Captain. Not when I was second-in-command, and it isn't right now, and I… Don't know if I will be able to make it 'Right.' I don't even know what 'Right' is at this point. I barely even know what I'm doing as it is but I…"

She swallowed.

"...I'm sorry."

She didn't look.

She had no idea what expressions the others had on right now. If it was shock. If it was joy, or if it was contempt. She didn't know, and right now she didn't dare look. She wasn't sure her grip on Adora's hand could get any tighter, but Adora didn't try to take her hand back at all.

She kept her eyes firmly shut.

"I… Know that doesn't mean much when I don't know exactly what it is I'm apologizing for - There's so much of it I need to own up to, I know, but I - I'm sorry for… All of it. It doesn't make up for anything but - "

Catra found herself being hugged suddenly. And it wasn't by Adora. She could still feel Adora's hand in hers.

Her eyes opened.

It was Kyle.

"I forgive you."

Everyone was surprised by his action just as much as they were surprised by his words. Catra let go of Adora's hand almost as a pure impulse, and Lonnie and Rogelio were both completely frozen, eyes laser-focused on their friend hugging the person who had nearly gotten him killed not all that long ago. Even Adora was surprised. She didn't know how to respond, and just stood there, baffled and watching everything take place in front of her.

For her own part, Catra was totally still, and didn't have even the first clue how to react to this. Of all the responses she had expected, this had not been one of them. Her hands just sort of… Hovered in the middle of the air, not sure what to do with themselves.

"K - Kyle? What - What are you - "

"I'm so sick of fighting."

Words didn't come for Catra. They did for Kyle though.

"I'm so sick of it. I've never wanted to be a fighter…. And I've never wanted to fight any of you… And you didn't either, did you?"

"Kyle…" Of all the people….

"It's obvious. Especially here. When you're with Adora. I… I get it."

"I… I treated you like dirt… We all did..." Of everyone here… Why him?

"...And I forgive you for that too. I don't want to fight you anymore, Catra. I just want things to be like they used to be… Just without the Horde."

Why was he the one like this?

Rogelio stepped up next, going into the series of lizard… Speak, that Catra couldn't understand but knew she should have learned by now. His speech was long - Maybe about thirty seconds - and it sounded elaborate and in depth.

"He says he's willing to forgive you as well." Kyle translated. He separated from Catra to convey that, and she realized for the first time that he had tears in his eyes. "He said that everything that happened in the Horde was because of the Horde and the war, and those're gone now. That there's no reason to let that rule our lives anymore. We don't need to be the people the Horde made us into… And he doesn't want to be someone who fights the closest thing to a family he's got."

There was no reason Catra honestly deserved this.

None whatsoever.

Yet here it was.

"I don't."

Attention shifted to Lonnie, who stood where she was, arms still folded, and still looking at Catra with a… Look, that was somewhere between hostility and…. Something else. Kyle and Rogelio gave her worried expressions, like they were afraid she was about to go onto a tirade.

She didn't though.

"I already told you that, didn't I?" She directed her question towards Catra. It was obviously a rhetorical question, and she didn't expect an answer, since she carried on almost immediately after asking it. "I told you that this wasn't going to be solved in one day, and that it didn't matter to me what those two did." She jerked her thumb in the direction of her two compatriots. 

It was impossible to fault her for a lack of honesty. 

To say that this trip would have been a total success, even under the best of circumstances, would have been a lie. Catra knew that she was walking into a situation that almost certainly wasn't going to have a happy ending, and she had accepted that long ago. She had meant it when she had said she couldn't, and wouldn't, force anyone to change their mind about her. No one had to forgive her.

"Lonnie…" Kyle said, in a voice that sounded much, much more like how he used to sound back in the Horde days.

"Kyle, it's… It's fine." Catra said, quickly, trying to offer him a smile. "She already told me that. It's okay…"

"Hang on. I didn't say I was finished."

Catra snapped her head towards Lonnie.

Lonnie held up her right fist, and then extended her index finger. "I said that it wasn't going to be fixed in one day. And adding a sorry on top of that doesn't fix anything as far as I'm concerned. You don't fix years of bullcrap by saying sorry once and hoping that that's enough. That isn't how it works."

Her middle finger shot out next.

"It takes two days." Then her ring finger. "Then three days." Then her pinkie. "Then four." Then her thumb. "Then five. As far as I'm concerned, it's something that you earn, that you work for."

Hands then shuffled into her pockets. She then looked to the side, not looking at Catra anymore, but her

"If you want it, then earn it. I'll give you that one chance."

After everything that was done and said, those were the terms Lonnie had?

Those were _more than fair_ as far as Catra was concerned. A chance was all she asked for.

And that resonated with Kyle and Adora just as much.

Once more, Kyle jumped into a hug with Catra. Adora did too. This time, the pair of them were laughing, and Kyle had tears running down his face. And though she didn't like to show it, Catra did as well, but she couldn't help but smile.

Not one to be left out, Rogelio bear hugged the three of them, and was able to lift all of them up into the air as he did so with his immense strength. A trio of yelps followed as three people who weighed next to nothing to Rogelio realized what was happening.

And Catra could have sworn that she saw at least the beginnings of a smile form on Lonnie's lips.


	7. Advice

There were a lot of things that still needed to be talked about. That needed to be figured out.

From what individual plans were, to what came next, to what issues were going to need to be resolved. Obviously, even though Glimmer had pardoned Horde soldiers who fought against the Galactic Horde and brought them back into wider society, that didn't necessarily apply to deserters, so that was going to be the source of a call before the day was out. There also came the issue of what exactly they were supposed to do for accommodation.

Adora had asked Lonnie, Kyle and Rogelio if they wanted to come back to Brightmoon with them, and seeing if Glimmer couldn't find them a place to stay.

They had refused the offer though. At least for right now, they were happy where they were. They felt helpful, useful, like they were contributing to something productive, and they wanted to see that project through to the end. Geossphire would be a rebuilt village before the three of them moved on. That was something that the three of them had agreed on when they started to get to know the villagers here and began to work on fixing up the place.

After that, who knew? Maybe they'd find another village that needed help. Maybe they'd stay here for a while longer. Maybe they'd decide to stay permanently. Or maybe they'd take Adora up on the offer at some point. They promised to let her know.

How they would do that, they learned later in the day.

Outside of conversation, activity was done.

Catra ended up helping Lonnie fix up the wall that she had been working on earlier on. Finding a few holes in the wall that Lonnie had missed in irritation, patching up any weak spots, and getting more groundwork and wall built up by the pair of them working together than Lonnie had been able to do on her own.

Adora had helped out when needed, turning into She-Ra to move the heavier rocks with her enhanced strength. It had been a few hours of hard work, but it was productive work. It worked up a sweat.

To Catra, it felt good. It made her feel like she was paying her dues.

She made a mental note to see if there were any labour positions that needed filling in Brightmoon when they got back. Maybe there was something there she could help with.

Feel useful again, maybe.

By the end of it all, the border wall of the village had been wrapped up, checked for structural weaknesses, and fixed up where the need was. On one's own, the process might've taken another few days, but together, it was done in a few hours. Lonnie had even given Catra a pat on the back once they were done, and thanked her. It felt like the first step towards earning that forgiveness Lonnie promised she'd offer Catra the chance at.

How exactly she would know when she had paid her dues there, she didn't know. But she didn't mind that. Not really.

Later on in the day, Kyle and Rogelio both showed Catra and Adora someone that neither of them expected to see again once the Horde fell to pieces - Imp.

Apparently the two of them had found him in the ruins of the Fright Zone, and decided to look after him - Imp was a menace to be sure, but he didn't seem to have much of a survival instinct for the wild on his own, and they couldn't bring themselves to just leave him to starve. When learning that Adora and Catra were coming, they had opted to hide him in the surrounding forest, in case it had been some sort of arrest scenario that they were looking at. At least then Imp had a shot of escape and finding some other way to get by.

When they arrived, he was sleeping. He was wrapped up in a sort of harness - One he could easily break out of if he so desired, but didn't seem to want to, apparently comfy enough there. He was also surrounded by a bunch of candy bars - Presumably in case Kyle or Rogelio didn't return.

The wrappers were empty. He'd eaten them all. At that realization, both Kyle and Rogelio groaned.

It was hard for Catra not to think he didn't look too tough right now, remembering the danger this thing had put her in before.

Apparently he was going to be how the three of them would get in contact with Brightmoon if they ever needed to, and didn't have a direct line to the castle, since he could fly pretty quick when he wanted to. Catra made herself make a mental note to not shoot anything Imp-shaped if she saw it coming towards Brightmoon.

The rest of the day went by quickly, a mixture of conversation and activity. From old stories told from their various days in the war, talking about the places they'd seen and the things that they'd done - Some of which were more pleasant than others - to physical work, fixing up projects that Lonnie had been putting aside for a while now, aided by the two new pairs of hands. Each pair contributed what they were good at, to who needed it the most.

It felt almost like their old Horde days, where they were on construction duty, or on survival training courses. There was an air of … Not joviality, but almost lightheartedness to it all. Still some hostility, to be sure, but given everyone's history here?

Everything felt… Comparatively normal.

Like it used to.

Just… That little bit better…

...But weight still rested on Catra's mind.

* * *

_"So, everything went okay then?"_

"Yeah! A lot better than I think either of us expected."

"Well, I was expecting to get punched in the face a few times, so, you know. Anything's a step up from that."

"Catra." Adora jabbed Catra's arm with her elbow lightly, giving her that playful smirk.

"Alright, alright." Catra pushed Adora's arm away, giving her the same sort of smirk, before turning her attention back to Glimmer. "Far as things go, Sparkles, I don't think it could have gone much better, short of a marching band."

 _"I'll see what I can do."_ The holographic image of the Brightmoon Queen joked with a raised eyebrow and grin of her own. Her expression relaxed shortly after a few chuckles at her own joke, and became one of visible relief at the news. _"I was starting to get worried that Bow and I were going to need to come after you."_

The still surreal-to-see stars of night had come out by the time Adora and Catra had thought to head back to the ship and get in contact with Glimmer. They had gotten so caught up in everything that they had forgotten that they needed to check in with their friend to keep them updated. Given the full context of everything going on, Glimmer had been understandably worried about what could have ended up happening to them.

She was obviously relieved that her worries were misplaced.

"Sorry." Adora apologized, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "We've been helping with construction here all day. Lost track of… A lot of time."

 _"As long as you're both alright."_ Glimmer replied, shaking her head at the apology, like it wasn't necessary. _"I'm glad that it went well for both of you. You all sounded close when you talked about growing up in the Horde."_

"Wasn't like we had much choice. We had to rely on each other."

"Or you ended up like I did." Catra muttered. "I'm still… Amazed everything went as well as it did."

_"You almost sound upset."_

Holding her hand horizontally, Catra rotated it from side to side. "Not upset. More… I dunno, confused, I guess. I'm still processing it I suppose."

Glimmer nodded. _"After what happened between me and Bow… I get what you mean."_

Catra nodded back. Then she blinked. "Hey, Sparkles, d'you know if Scorpia is anywhere around you?"

 _"She's with Perfuma in the gardens right now. She's been worrying about you both as well, and Perfuma is trying to calm her down with flowers."_ At saying that, Glimmer seemed to get onto her tip-toes, to get a better look outside the nearest window and see if she could see the two of them. _"...I'm not sure it's working. You want me to get her?"_

"Yeah, if you could."

With that, Glimmer vanished as she teleported away. Adora gave Catra a smile again in the meantime, knowing why she wanted to speak to her friend. Catra gave her a shrug, and a small smile back.

About fifteen seconds after she vanished, Glimmer reappeared, with Scorpia in tow. The second she materialized, Scorpia darted straight towards the communication device in the room.

_"Catra! Adora! You're both okay? You're not hurt or anything?!"_

"Relax, Scorpia." Catra quickly assured her, holding up her hands as if to physically push back the worries Scorpia was projecting. "We're fine. Everything went fine."

A huge sigh of relief left Scorpia's chest as soon as she heard that. Her claw rested over her chest like she was trying to calm down her heart-rate. _"Phew! Oh - Oh thank…. Everything. You've been gone for ages and haven't checked in, I thought something might have happened to you and that we were going to need to come and get you out of there or - Or something, I don't know."_

"It went better than I thought it would." Catra said, folding her arms. "Much better than I thought it would."

_"What happened?"_

"Kyle and Rogelio just… Forgave everything. And Lonnie… Well, Lonnie didn't, but she's said she's willing to see what happens."

Another wave of alleviation washed over Scorpia's face, and for a second, Catra thought that she might fall onto her knees. _"Oh, Wildcat, I - you don't know how relieved I am to hear that. I was worried after you left that I might've made the wrong call and that I should have just, you know, left it alone, but - "_

"I'm glad that you didn't."

Scorpia was a naturally chatty person, perhaps to a detrimental degree. She was prone to rambling in nearly all circumstances - when she was happy, when she was sad, trying to prep herself up, when she was relieved, or anything of the sorts.

But she was caught off guard by Catra's simple sentiment, and stopped her rambling dead in its tracks. She just sort of stared at the image of Catra on her screen, not sure what to say.

Of nearly everyone she'd known over the last couple of years, Scorpia was easily one of the friendliest and most loyal people Catra had met. One of the only ones that Catra had been able to comfortably even consider anything close to a friend back in the Horde.

And absolutely one of her closest friends now.

Catra just offered her a smile.

"Thank you."

At the gratitude, Scorpia blushed for a moment, before she let herself smile again. _"A… Anytime, Catra. I mean it."_

"I know. And thank you for that too."

_"...I'd uh, I'd hug you through the screen right now if I didn't think that'd break this… Thing. Whatever it is. Looks like something Entrapta'd make…"_

"You can do that tomorrow, if you want."

 _"Tomorrow?"_ Glimmer piped up, and became visible on the hologram for Adora and Catra. _"You're not coming back tonight?"_

Adora shook her head. "We're gonna stay here tonight."

_"What for? The ship could have you back in like… Twenty seconds if you wanted it to."_

"It's... " Adora scratched her cheek as she tried to think of how to describe it. "... It's sentiment, I guess. We all pretty much lived together. We had shared bunks and everything. We don't have that now… Or bunk beds. So it just seemed, I don't know, fitting to at least see them in the morning before we came back."

"This is all her idea." Catra informed them, using her tail as a pointer. Adora awkwardly laughed.

 _"I understand."_ Glimmer nodded. _"We'll tell the rest of the gang. I think they'll be happy to know that everything is going well over there. We'll expect you for tomorrow, okay?"_

"You hear that, Adora?" Catra asked, smirking. "No slumber parties."

Adora swatted Catra's tail away lightly before she answered Glimmer. "Got it. We'll be back before midday."

Scorpia and glimmer waved the pair of them goodbye as their holograms disappeared into the air. Once they were both gone, Adora and Catra let out simultaneous sighs, happy to have gotten that particular thing off their to-do lists.

Armed above her, Catra stretched, and hand in front of her mouth, Adora yawned.

"That went well." Catra commented. "I think."

"You seemed to be in a good mood." Adora pointed out, rubbing her eyes of welled-up yawn-tears as she spoke.

"It was… Good to let everyone know." Catra said. "Not sure why."

"Me either. But I get what you mean."

There were a few minutes of silence between the two of them - Comfortable silence - While Adora raided what had become the makeshift pantry of the ship for whatever food was still in there. She was able to find some fruit, bread, and canned tuna fish, and other foodstuffs to make what would be their supper - Tuna sandwiches. She tossed the can over to Catra, who used her claw to open the sealed container, and then slid it back to Adora, who then set to work actually putting together their supper. The whole scene played out in silence.

Thoughts still ran through Catra's head. Feelings and what felt like conflicts bothered her still. Internal contradictions she couldn't quite figure out.

Parts of her that still felt… Wrong.

A sigh escaped her.

"Catra, you okay?"

A push on the shoulder brought Catra back out of her headspace and back into reality. Adora had already placed her supper in front of her, but she hadn't even realized it. She'd zoned out so much she had barely even realized how the world had changed around her.

"Huh?" An involuntary noise came from Catra when she was brought back into reality. She looked at Adora, then her supper, then Adora again, and let out another exhale. "...Sorry. I was… Thinking."

"You've been doing that a lot today." Adora said, matter - of - factly. "It's fairly obvious when you are. You sigh a lot. You're not normally that out of it though."

She took her seat next to Catra.

"...Wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know." Catra said, immediately. "That's not a dismissal thing. I just… Don't know. I'm not sure my own head is making sense."

"Is it… Upsetting you?"

"No. Yes… Maybe?" Catra groaned, dissatisfied with her own answers. "...I dunno if I'm entirely okay with how Kyle and Rogelio forgave me the way they did."

Blinking, Adora tilted her head. "Okay with?"

"They barely asked anything of me. And they just sort of… Let everything slide. It doesn't… I don't know if I like that. I mean, I like that we're at least able to talk to one another now and that we're going to be able to see one another again, but it's just…"

Her foot tapped against the floor as she tried to find the right words.

"...Lonnie was the harshest towards me. That's pretty much a given. But I kind of… Prefer that? I mean, that's… Justified, isn't it? After everything, she treated me pretty much how anyone would treat me, and that was… Fair in my mind. Like… Right, I guess?"

Like she had done yesterday, Adora didn't interrupt. Instead, she just let Catra speak, let her get everything she needed to get out of her system out. Let her just talk.

So many problems would have been solved if people just talked more. Especially Catra.

"They have the right to be upset with me. They… They should be upset with me, shouldn't they? After everything I put them through, that's like the one thing that they should have against me. But they just… Let it go, and I don't…"

Catra turned to look at Adora, and the expression on her face was one of a mixture between confusion and actual upset.

"...I don't think I deserve that."

"Catra…"

Eyes back on the table, Catra carried on talking. "At least Lonnie actually held me accountable for it. At least I feel like I'm doing… Something to make up for all the shit I dragged her through. With Kyle and Rogelio though… I don't think I deserve how good they've been to me. It's like..." She paused. "...Scorpia, Entrapta, Glimmer, Bow, and now these guys… It's like everyone I know treats me better than I deserve.

"...Do you think that way about me?"

That made Catra stop talking. That spoke for itself.

The truth was she did, to an extent. Maybe the worst out of everyone she thought like this about. Adora meant the world to her, before and after she left the Horde. Even when she was fighting against her like a raved lunatic, Adora still meant the entire world to her. That didn't change the way she treated her. That didn't excuse it.

But Adora almost treated it like it did nowadays. And that made Catra feel… Gross, almost.

...It was part of why she had been so adamant that the others didn't give Adora any grief for her own actions. That felt like the absolute least she owed Adora.

There had to be…. Some sort of equilibrium, right? Some line she would cross where she could definitely say she had made up for things? Lonnie at least was honest about it. It was why Catra preferred that.

"...Do you think I want you to make up for what happened between us?"

"..." Catra bit her lip again. Damn it. "... I… I don't think you do… And I almost wish that you did."

"...What about what I want?"

Catra returned her sights to Adora.

"I don't want that from you, Catra. I don't want you to feel like you constantly have to prove yourself to me, or to anyone. We - We saved Etheria together. Isn't that enough?"

"Feels like I did a lot worse to a lot of people for a lot longer for that to make up for all of it."

"Maybe…" Adora sighed. "But… What if those people don't want anything from you? What if they just… Want to get on with their lives?" She paused. "...Kyle and Rogelio seem to just want that. If that's all they're asking for..."

"I… I know." Catra sank in her seat a bit. Logically it made sense, she supposed. They wanted a sense of closure and to get back to their lives. That involved forgiving her. If that was it, then she should accept it, but… "I just… I just wish I could do something else for them."

"And me?"

"...And you."

"You're here." Adora's hand reached out and held onto Catra's. "That's all I ever wanted."

It was a sad smile, but a smile appeared on Catra's lips all the same. She really didn't deserve this, but here it was, all the same. And it was all Adora wanted.

"...You're far too good to me."

"Well, I love you." Adora smiled back at her, understanding and warmly. "I want to see you happy."

Before she could say anything else, Catra found herself pulled into a hug. No matter how many of those she got from Adora, they always made her pause and her heart beat that bit quicker. Every single time. They were always warm. Always comforting. Always just… everything she wanted.

She really didn't deserve this. But it was what Adora wanted.

...But she'd spend the rest of her life trying to make Adora happy. That was the least she could do.

"...I love you too." Catra replied, before returning the hug, and then letting go of her just that little bit so she could kiss her.

* * *

The stars were like a fairy tale come to life. Myths and ancient stories ingrained into an entire planet, suddenly brought to the forefront. Like the statues of long-lost civilizations and their Gods were suddenly transponded, and those ancient Gods came back to the world made incarnate.

Hardly even an exaggeration,m to tell the truth. So many people had spent their entire lives being told the rest of the stars had just… Gone. That there were no other planets than Etheria. That they were the one cradle of life in an otherwise empty universe.

Both those illusions were shattered in a single moment.

It was hard not to spend at least a bit of time staring at them before going to sleep. It had almost become something of a new tradition on Etheria.

A cool air would be pleasant, Catra had thought. It would be nice, after the day she'd had, to just chill in the cool air and stare at the stars for a bit, think about how she had been amongst them not too long ago, and how soon, she would be again, in this same ship.

Stars were incredible, and the fact other worlds existed was something that still messed with her mind. Even stepping on other worlds hadn't done anything to curve that particular mind-scramble. It'd be like if she woke up on a new continent of Etheria that everyone had just somehow missed for a few thousand years - Real, definitivally there, but difficult to wrap one's head around.

In and of themselves though, they didn't mean a huge amount to Catra. Not that she was disinterested in them though.

Travel was what interested her now.

The prospect was one that excited her if she was being honest. It felt like she had lost the chance to have a real adventure with Adora during the war because of their opposing sides.

Now she was going to get that chance again, and was going to get it with people she had grown to consider friends. It wasn't the journey that excited her in itself, but the people that she was going to get to share it with.

As she exited the ship and made her way onto the ramp though, she found Kyle, sat on said ramp, about halfway down, his back to her, messing around with what seemed like some kind of notebook. He heard her steps though, and vertically turned so his face was upside-down to see what was behind him.

"Oh, there you are. Hey."

"Hey." Catra greeted, a touch surprised to see him here. As she made her way to where he was, she asked, "What's going on? I thought you all went to get some sleep."

"Oh, er… Me and Rogelio wanted to say goodnight to you both. Like… Old times, I guess."

"..." Looking around, and then back to Kyle, she said, "...Can't help but notice Rogelio isn't here."

"He's… Chasing after Imp."

"What, did it run off?"

"Kind of. I think he got spooked by a shadow that looked like a Hordak Clone or something."

"...To be fair I would too." Catra muttered under her breath, before taking a seat next to Kyle. "So… why're you not chasing after him too?"

Sheepishly, Kyle scratched his cheek. "I… I'd only get in the way. I'm not as fast as Rogelio… A - And we kinda figured someone should stick around in case, you know, the other got lost. At least then in the morning it'll be easier to look for them."

"Fair enough." Catra shrugged. She then looked up at the sky above her. "...You uh… you left the Horde the day the stars came back, right?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. It was… Weird. Almost felt like a sign, you know?"

"I got abducted by Horde Prime the day the stars came back." She ran her fingers through her air, holding a few of the strands between her fingers. "He's the one who cut this."

"...Would it be weird if I said I think it suits you?"

"A little." Catra shrugged. "But… It's grown on me a bit. Might keep it a bit shorter from now on."

"...Seems like everything really changed then, huh?"

"...Yeah. It did."

For a short while, the two of them sat in contemplation, thinking back on that day. For Catra, it had been… Brutal. Between her fighting Hordak, and Double Trouble…. Doing their bit, messing with her head…

...Ruthlessly getting a message she… Really needed to hear through her thick skull. Whether she wanted to hear it or not.

Maybe Kyle was right. Maybe that day had been a sign.

Certainly hadn't felt like it at the time though.

"...I don't think anything is going to be the same after that." Kyle carried on. He had thought a lot about things, Catra noticed. "Seems like everything has to change after what happened. Like if we had to avoid everything because of a plague or… Something."

"Can't go back to how it used to be, that's for sure." Catra agreed, still looking up at the stars.

"The same goes for people." Kyle smiled. "I uh… I don't think I said this earlier, but, er… I'm really happy for you and Adora."

That same small blush whenever their relationship was brought up spread across Catra's cheeks. "Thanks. Glad I was able to get you all a few ration bars and a bit of entertainment."

"I mean it though. You both seem so much happier. Even more than when you were back in the Horde. And it's, well… It's clear that it's helped you a lot too. You're obviously not here because Adora dragged you here. You're here cause you want to be. It just… I'm really happy for you."

A smile she couldn't stop from spreading made itself known on Catra's lips. An acknowledgement that while Adora had helped, she'd made this choice on her own - There was something affirming about it. Like she was being recognized for her efforts.

The awkwardness of hearing about her relationship from someone else also contributed to that smile though, like a sort of defense mechanism had been triggered to prevent further awkwardness… However that would have worked.

Adora smiled when she was being awkward. Maybe that particular trait was rubbing off on Catra.

"Sorry we couldn't get Lonnie to come." Kyle then said, letting his smile drop. "She's… Still not sure what to make of everything.

"Honestly, don't worry about it." Catra assured him. "She was more than fair to me when she laid out her terms earlier today. I don't mind at all. It's… Still going to take some getting used to. For everyone."

"She'll come around." Kyle said, seemingly sure of himself. "I'm certain she will."

"Maybe." Catra nodded. "I'm still surprised you and Rogelio were so willing to forgive… Everything."

"...You know what leaving the Horde taught me?" Kyle asked. "More than anything?"

Unsure if she was supposed to answer, Catra didn't say anything, and just waited for Kyle to reveal the answer himself.

"...It's that people are good. There are… Some bad people out there. Hordak was one of them. But the vast majority of people? They're good, kind people, and they all want to just… Live well. And a lot of us do bad things, and sometimes it's because we don't know any better, or because we're forced into it, or because we're put into a situation where we don't know what else to do or don't have a choice."

While not as well travelled as Catra was, she got the feeling that Kyle was a lot more well versed in communication with the people whom's lands he'd travelled to. That he'd seen a lot of people, and spoken to them a lot more than she had. That he had come to understand people a lot better than she did.

"That doesn't make it okay - When people do bad things… And we… All did bad things for the Horde… But I...I feel like I understand why you did everything you did. And… And I don't want to fight anyone anymore. It's not like two wrongs will make a right here."

"It would be some sort of justice though."

"Justice was when the Horde was destroyed. The Horde raised us so we'd end up the way we did. That's gone now. This would just be… Pointless. You apologized. That's all I wanted."

A small sigh escaped her. Adora had been right, she supposed. What was she supposed to do, force him to roll out a list of demands?

"...Weird to think that was all Rogelio wanted too." She muttered. "No offense to the guy, but he never struck me as the forgiving type."

"Rogelio… A... A lot changed since we knew each other. I guess he calmed down too."

A snicker escaped Catra's lips. "Hey, you remember that time he got stuck in one of the pitfall traps when we were kids?"

"You mean the one that was too small for him to fall down?"

"That's the one."

Kyle couldn't stop himself from laughing either. "Took me like, twenty minutes to get him loose."

"He was so mad."

"Then he chased you for laughing at him."

Catra outright laughed. "He couldn't catch me if his life depended on it!"

"Don't know if I'd agree with that nowadays. He's pretty tough, you know."

"Maybe me and him'll have to spa sometime. Make it really feel like the old times."

"Somehow I feel like he'd enjoy that."

"You want in? I can take you both on at once if you like." Catra's smug smirk reached ear-to-ear, even though she was just teasing.

"No… No, I… I think I'd just get in his way."

Not… The reason Catra had expected. Still, she shrugged. "Fair enough… You, er, know I was kidding, right?"

"...Oh." Kyle paused before he answered. "Oh - Oh, yeah, I… No, no I - I thought you were serious for a minute there." He laughed awkwardly at himself. "Sorry, I.. Don't think I'm used to your sense of humour yet."

"My bad." Catra admitted. "Sorry."

"It's alright."

That oddity that had been pestering Catra all day came back in full. Kyle was different. There wasn't any ambiguity about it now. In nearly all other aspects, he was more independent, sure of himself and of his own convictions. He had grown. Changed.

But just then, it was like he had reverted back to his old self, in a brief moment of recidivism.

There was something… That Catra could feel. Something was bothering Kyle, but it was something that she knew he wouldn't ever admit.

So instead, she tested the waters.

"It uh… That's something that I dunno if I'll be able to change. My sense of humour I mean."

"No, no, really, it's okay." Kyle assured her. "Rogelio and Lonnie have… Different sense of humour to mine. I've picked up a bit of theirs, I know when they're joking. It's just a bit harder with you."

"Our sense of humour was mocking you back in the Horde."

"I thought it was all friendly teasing back then. Wasn't until… You know, getting trapped in the Whispering Woods that I figured out nearly everyone was just being jerks about it. When Rogelio did it I knew he was joking around. Same with Adora, Adora's too nice for that, but you and Lonnie…"

"Sorry."

"Please stop apologizing, I told you I forgave you." Kyle smiled, though he looked a bit tired. "Lonnie apologized too, a while ago now. She's still my friend."

Interesting, Catra thought to herself.

"...You think pretty highly of Rogelio, huh?"

"He's my best friend, of course I do."

Catra nodded, having a hunch now where this was going. "Say, what's that book, anyway?" She asked, pointing at the book on Kyle's lap that he'd been scribbling in when she arrived.

"Oh, it's a sketchbook." Kyle explained, holding it up. "I liked drawing in the Horde, but I didn't get a lot of time to do it because of the war. So I wanted to get back into it."

"I think I remember." Mulled Catra. "You used to show them to everyone at meal time. You were pretty good. I remember thinking so back then."

"D… Do you wanna see some of my sketches?"

"Could I?"

"Sure!" Kyle nodded, "Let me just find some good ones." He then began to flip through his notebook, very careful not to let Catra see beyond the book's hardback, and Catra couldn't stop herself from noticing that he was skipping over entire pages at a time, then holding them between his fingers, like he was selecting entire batches of art that he didn't want Catra to see.

He showed her some of the sketches he had done of the first village that they had come across, and of some of the villagers within it. Landscape drawings in particular, he seemed to have gotten the hang of, filling entire pages with well drawn environments. Some pages were more cluttered, like objects and faces, and hands - Lot and lots and lots of hands - that he was trying to get the hang of drawing out.

There were some of Lonnie, and some of him. There was even one of Catra, Adora, and the ship. That was the most recent one, in fact.

No Rogelio though. And Catra had a feeling she knew why.

"So, quick question." She asked, before she tapped one of the chunks of pages he was holding between his fingers. "What's on those pages?"

"E-Er, j-just some bad sketches I'm not… Comfortable with a-anyone seeing. They're r-really bad."

"So you're telling me that you've drawn our entire squad - Including me, of all people - But you haven't drawn your 'best friend' in that thing?"

That was a contradiction, and it seemed that Kyle realized that the second Catra began to point that out. His face went a shade of red.

"I knew it." Catra smirked. "Those pages are full of drawings entirely of him, aren't they?"

Lying was never the strongest character trait of Kyle's. He was too nervous, too easily caught up, and gave away signs way, way too easily. When he tried to lie, it was painfully obvious to anyone around him.

Everything made sense now. The thing that Catra recognized in Kyle, that she had thought was new, but Adora noticed was just enhanced. The way that he spoke and carried himself, the new sense of confidence that diminished when it came to Rogelio.

She recognized her love for Adora in Kyle.

Only his was aimed elsewhere.

"You like him, don't you?"

His face was bright red and he had started to sweat, but he seemed to realize that he'd been caught out. It looked like he wanted to protest, but he quickly realized how futile doing so was going to be. Lying wasn't going to get him anywhere here. He instead hung his head, and just sighed.

"...I-Is it seriously that obvious?"

Catra raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Not until now it wasn't, no. I thought I recognized something about you that reminded me of me. Didn't realize exactly what it was until just now."

Muffled by now hiding his face, Kyle muttered, "Then how did you even figure it out?"

"Mostly the drawing thing, and the fact you keep bringing up Rogelio and holding him up like he's some kind of messiah. The best friend thing only gets you so far. Trust me."

"You're not… G - Going to tell anyone, a - are you?"

"Why would I?" Catra asked. "It's not like I'd get anything out of it. Besides…" She paused for a few moments, running through what she'd do if that had happened, but between her and Adora. At the end of it, she sighed. "...I don't know if I'd even be able to face Adora if that was how she found out about me being in love with her."

It would be humiliating. Awful. How would she even be able to look at Adora after?

If she couldn't say it how and when she wanted to, when she needed to… What was the point? It wasn't like her actual confession had been perfect - Adora nearly dying and the planet nearly exploding, or burning, or whatever had been about to happen, that wasn't the situation Catra had wanted to confess in, nor had she even been sure she wanted to confess in and of itself, but it had been her confession to make.

Knowing that anything about her was revealed without her knowledge or consent was bad enough, for her feelings for Adora to be revealed by anyone but her, in whatever language they pleased, to twist or trivialize it…

That idea haunted Catra whenever she considered the possibility. And she wasn't planning on subjecting Kyle to that sort of emotional turmoil.

And even if she was that cruel - Again, she could gain literally nothing from it. Anyone could say what they liked about her time in the Horde, but she wasn't cruel for the sake of being cruel.

Not intentionally, anyway.

Kyle peeked from between his arms and hair. "N… Not even Adora?

"Not even Adora. My lips are sealed, I promise."

That seemed to relax Kyle, at least a little. His face was still bright red, but he let himself stop hiding his face in his hands and arms, and actually sit upright again. His body had become tense and rigid, and he was fidgeting at the scratches in his tracksuits.

It was easy to sympathize with him in this moment, Catra felt.

"So…" She started. "...How long?"

"I…" Kyle bit his lip before he answered. "...I don't know. A - A few years, maybe?"

"Maybe?"

"I think? I… I only think I realized it in the last year or two."

"...After Adora left." Catra noted.

"I… Tried to figure out just how you might be feeling after that happened." Kyle explained, keeping his eyes firmly focused at the bottom of the ramp, in case Rogelio showed up so he could shut his mouth before he heard anything. "You were so… Angry and upset all the time, and I… I wanted to understand how it felt. Why you were acting like you were - There… there had to be a reason."

"...Is that why you were so quick to forgive me?"

A nod. "Even after it became too much to take orders from you back then, I still understood why you were acting like you were. At least a little." A pause. "I… Tried imagining what it'd be like if my best friend left the Horde without me because someone they'd never met seemed to matter more to them than I did. I didn't get angry though. I got… Just, sad."

"And that was Rogelio?"

"Yeah…"

All Catra did was nod. This, specifically, she couldn't relate to. She didn't have a single moment that she could point to for when she realized she was in love with Adora. It wasn't a sudden thing for her - A slow thing, events that built up on events, until it became difficult to imagine her life without Adora there, and wanting to prove herself to her. It had just made itself known at one point in her mind and had been there since.

Maybe she could compare how she felt after Adora left the Horde to Kyle's revelation… And how much she realized that she needed Adora in her life.

She didn't know if that was a good comparison though.

"...So." She said, watching her wording, not wanting to upset him. "...What is it about him you like?"

For about thirty seconds, Kyle didn't say a word, or look away from the bottom of the ramp, and for about half of those, Catra wondered if he had heard her, or if he was just hoping that if he didn't say anything, she'd lose interest and go away.

"...I don't know." Kyle finally said, quietly, and uncertainly. "It… It's not like there's just…. A - A few things I like, and then that's… It. There's… A lot of stuff."

Catra didn't say anything, but she gave Kyle a look, leaving the option for him to keep talking open.

What she recognized in Kyle was a complicated series of feelings and emotions that he hadn't had the chance to really figure out himself, because he'd never been able to express them out loud to someone. Not in depth, anyway. If he had told someone before she figured it out, she was certain it would be brief, surface level stuff. Something that he could say to feel better in the then and now, but wouldn't be able to figure out on his own. He was too awkward for that.

She'd been the same way. But she had had to figure everything out in the harshest way possible.

There wasn't any good reason Kyle had to.

A few seconds of silence more, and then Kyle spoke again. "It's… Back when we were training together, Rogelio kept an eye open for me whenever he could. And he'd always check up with me if I got injured. He… Always encouraged me to try and find a way that I'd be useful to the Horde… When all our instructors had already written me off as useless. He'd check up on me when I was upset, and he tried to make me feel better."

Gripping the book, Kyle looked like he was making the hardest call of his life. Without turning to face her though, he thrust the sketchbook towards her, offering it to her to look through. Taking it into her hands, and flipping through the pages, Catra saw the drawings of Rogelio.

And there were a lot of them.

Not an artist, Catra couldn't really say what exactly they said about Kyle's feelings towards Rogelio in each picture. It wasn't like she could recognize if there were emotions within each line, or whatever pretentious artists would claim when they looked at a piece. She could note that there were plenty of drawings of him, in various poses and situations, and at times, the sketchbook transformed into a sort of diary, with written accounts accompanying the pictures. Some drawings had annotations, with lines directing them to certain body parts, and notes on the other side. Some were drawing notes, like a misshapen muscle, or a particular shading technique he liked or disliked.

Others were practically gushing about Rogelio. More than once, these annotated sections would just lead to a heart.

"There… There was this one time him and I sneaked back onto the training courses after everyone had gone to sleep. He went through them with me over and over again, trying to help me figure out where I was going wrong or what I could do to improve my time. He… He's the one who said that I had a skill for mechanics. It's why I worked so hard to understand all the tech that we used to fight the Rebellion. I only figured out I was any good with that sort of stuff because of him."

One picture Catra landed on as Kyle spoke was of Rogelio hugging his friend from behind - Arm thrown over Kyles slimmer shoulders, and another patting him on the chest, like the jock he was. Kyle in the image seemed flustered - Self deprecation was a character trait Kyle did have down in spades - But he was noticeably happy in that one.

She recognized the look all too well.

That drawing, she could tell what he felt about Rogelio from.

"He didn't blame me when things went wrong. He didn't try to pass blame onto me. He just… He looked out for me, when it felt like… No one else would. I felt like I… Mattered to him."

Kyle was so easy to sympathize with for Catra right now.

Now that she thought about it, it almost sounded like what Kyle and Rogelio's friendship had been throughout their time at the Horde. They were often seen together, either as training partners or just keeping one another company. They spent the most time together, though Catra hadn't thought a thing of it at the time. Kyle was essentially the runt of the litter when it came to the Horde, and their squad in particular, but it was nearly always Rogelio that stopped the teasing before it got too much for Kyle.

It reminded Catra of how Adora would stand up to Shadow Weaver and the other grown ups for her whenever she messed up.

Everything he was saying now, everything he was describing, everything that he'd drawn…

Things almost felt like a parallel.

...And she could see it going the exact same way.

"...Makes sense." Catra nodded, when she realized Kyle was done talking. What more could she say to that? And there wasn't more that Kyle needed to say either. It was the briefest, and most accurate summary that he could give.

Probably the same as what Catra would say about Adora.

Thinking back on it now, she could remember a lot of these incidents. Even contributing to certain ones, regrettably. Given the environment they lived in, of course they'd end up falling for one another. She'd fallen for Adora in the same one.

A part of her was beginning to feel bad that Lonnie didn't seem to have anyone like that. That she knew of, anyway.

When it came to Kyle though, Catra understood - Despite what confidence he had managed to gain in his time from the Horde, away from all the constant belittlement and orders that were given by, well, her - In spite of those things, she knew perfectly well.

He had no intention of telling Rogelio about this.

Already he had asked that she not tell anyone, afraid that his secret was going to be revealed. That was evidence enough, but the sketches he had made it seem like he wanted to draw the fond memories he had of his crush as a sort of compensatory factor. Like he might not be able to confess, but he would at least have these drawings. Maybe to Kyle, those were satisfying enough.

For right now, anyway. Catra had thought the same thing about just being close to Adora.

It didn't work.

"...Kyle, can I… Give you some advice?"

He turned to look at Catra, who in turn looked back at him. It was like Kyle was trying to figure out what advice she was going to give before she even gave it, so he didn't have to hear it out loud before he was afraid of what he would hear.

No refusal came though. So Catra gave it.

"You should tell him."

"Wh - What?!" Kyle went beet red again, and his whole body went tense as stone.

"I'm serious." Catra carried on, and held up the book in her hands. "He means the world to you. It's obvious. And this is killing you." Her eyes narrowed. "Remember who you're talking to here. Trust me, I know what you're doing to yourself."

Anxiety, regret, self-directed fury and bordering onto hatred. All that, Catra had felt towards herself, masking herself under the guise of being just fine, and dedicated to the work she had to get done.

And so many times, she'd taken it out on the people she cared about. And the person she loved. They were on other sides of a war, sure, but she could count off the top of her head half a dozen times she'd used that to justify herself doing stuff she didn't need to, and that held no other purpose other than making her feel a bit better for a few moments.

It got really easy to justify doing that, really quickly.

"I - I - I can't do that!" Kyle protested, his hands turning into claws in front of his face. "What - What would I even say to him? And it - It's not like I can just say that and hope it'll be fine! We - We don't - We're wanderers right now! If I said anything, that - That'd be so - So - I don't think we'd even be able to travel together after that! Catra I - I can't just - "

"Do you know how miserable I was without Adora?"

Kyle stopped, dead in his tracks.

He hadn't asked to hear about why Catra did what she did, or what was going through her mind back in the Horde. It hadn't been relevant to his choice to forgive her. He hadn't needed to know, not really.

Hearing her talk about her feelings at all was bizarre. Her willingly throwing them up like this to relate to someone else on this sort of level?

That caught him off guard.

Catra let herself laugh, exactly once in amusement at how quickly that had made Kyle go silent, before letting out a sigh. "You were… Present, for most of it. You saw what I turned into. What… What sort of person I ended up turning into. I was so, so, so angry at her. At… Everyone. Everything. The Horde. Hordak. You. Lonnie, Rogelio… Everyone." She looked at her hands, gently opened so she could see her palms. "What did any of you know about what I was going through? You didn't know Adora like I did. You didn't know how much she… How much she meant to me. How much I needed her there…"

Her hands closed.

"None of you even knew her. Not really. Not like I did. And you didn't know me either. I had her, that was… That was enough. But you all acted like you did. Like you had… Any idea… What gave you the right to act like you did?"

Her hands loosened again, relaxing.

"So I stopped even talking to any of you. To anyone I didn't have to. All things considered, I got lucky. Really lucky, because of Scorpia and Entrapta being there for me. But I always kept them at an arm's distance because… They didn't know. Not really. And I couldn't even begin to explain why they put up with me for so long. But they helped keep me grounded, at least a little." She sighed. "Why did I even let it get that bad?"

She looked at Kyle from the corner of her eye. He was listening to her, carefully.

"...I didn't tell Adora how I felt, that's why."

Now her eyes turned towards the stars, remembering everything that she'd been through throughout the war.

"Because I was too proud. I keep thinking, if I'd told her how I felt earlier, what would be different about the last few years? What could I have avoided? Would I still be here now, with her? Or would I have... " She shivered at the thought. "...Would I have pushed her away because of… Everything that was in my head at the time? Because of how much I isolated myself. How much I relied on just one person. I keep… I keep wondering that maybe things would be different…. But I know for damn sure that if I had told her sooner, I wouldn't have spent the last couple of years trying to convince myself I hated her. And that..."

She swallowed.

"...That hurt a hell of a lot more than anything else. Because you keep trying to find excuses, reasons why someone hates you, so it's easier to hate them. And that numbs it for a while. I'm not…"

She turned to face Kyle.

"I'm not saying it's something you should do right away. Not if you don't want to, or think you… Can. But you are in such a better position that I was. You have Lonnie. You don't need to fight Rogelio. We don't need to fight each other. And I don't know if he'll feel the same way, and I don't know what'll happen… But you'll… You'll at least know. That's more than I got."

She placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder.

"There's no reason you need to go through as rough a time with this as I did."

For a while, it looked like Kyle processed everything, like he was going through it all and trying to figure out where he stood. Their situations were different, but the emotional problems were similar enough that Catra's words seemed to hold a certain amount of weight.

Catra handed him his sketchbook back, open on the hug page. As he took his book back, she offered him a smile.

"Think about it, at least."

Almost at that exact moment, the forest began to rustle, and Catra immediately felt herself getting ready to fight on pure reflex. Claws out and ready to pounce, before she recognized the silhouette that came out of the forest.

Rogelio.

In one of his hands, he had Imp, holding him by his wings so he couldn't fly off anywhere.

He spotted the two former Horde soldiers on the ramp, and waved at them with his other hand, saying something in his speak. Catra didn't have a clue what though. Sahe looked towards Kyle, and, with the side of her face that Rogelio wouldn't be able to see, let her lips curl into a smug look, and raised an eyebrow.

"E - Er…" Kyle's voice was a lot more unstable right now, and his cheeks were red. "He's just saying hi. And that h-he's sorry for taking so long to me."

"We kept each other company, don't worry." Catra told Rogelio, tapping Kyle's shoulder with her knuckles gently.

An eyebrow raised on Rogelio's face, but he didn't say anything.

"We - We should… Be getting back." Kyle said, getting onto his feet. "I-It's a lot darker than when we set off. We've been here a while now."

"Think about it." Catra said, quietly, giving him a nod as he started to make his way down the ramp.

He looked back at her, and thought for a moment.

"G… Good night, Catra."

"Night."

A noise from Rogelio gave Catra the impression that she understood what he was saying that time.

* * *

It was about ten by the time Catra and Adora decided that this visit was at its end, and that they were going to need to head back to Brightmoon. A lot of things still needed to be resolved before the Best Friend Squad was going to have the chance to head out into space and adventure again. They couldn't just leave Etheria a damaged world.

So back they would go, to help rebuild and resettle those who had been displaced by the war. And they'd go with promises to send whatever help they could here.

Catra couldn't help but think they wouldn't need much at all though. Not with her former squad here.

First, the villagers came to say their goodbyes to the mighty She-Ra, thanking her again and again for everything that she had done for their world. A number of them apologized for not being able to bring what was apparently a traditional token of gratitude in this village - A basket of fruit. They were low on supplies as it was though. Adora had to assure them all individually that it was far more important that they kept their supplies for themselves, and that she'd make sure Brightmoon sent something to this area to help them out.

Through the grapevine, or because a few of them had managed to piece it together themselves, a few of them seemed to realize what relationship Catra and Adora had with one another. Some offered their congratulations, while others thanked Catra for her part in helping to end the war. If some of them did recognize her as a Horde soldier before, her association with She-Ra seemed to cancel it out.

A couple of the more… Forward villagers commented how lucky a woman Catra was. Catra just smirked at them, and said she couldn't even begin to argue with that.

Once the villagers had said their goodbyes, and had left the former squad on their own, they all looked at one another.

Catra's eyes fell towards Kyle. He seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

Had she gone too far the other night?

"I guess this is it." Adora said, looking between Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio. "For now, anyway."

"We're gonna be seeing you again, aren't we?" Lonnie asked, an eyebrow raised, like she already knew the answer.

"Oh, of - Of course…. At, you know, some point." Adora's answer came. "There's a lot to do back at Brightmoon before we head out in this thing." She pointed at the ship behind her. "We'll see each other before then."

"Make sure we do."

Adora and Lonnie both hugged one another. Catra had to admit that she wasn't sure exactly how their conversation had gone, but they seemed to be on good terms now. Better than she thought. She smiled as she observed the hug.

Once they let go of one another, Lonnie turned to Catra. Melong poked out from underneath Catra's arm, observing Lonnie with an interest.

Lonnie looked at Melog for a couple of seconds. "...You know, I don't think I ever thought to ask. What…. Is this thing, anyway?"

"Melog." Catra answered, scratching the alien behind the ears. "They're a shapeshifting creature we found on another planet that just kind of… Imprinted on me, I guess."

Lonnie just blinked. "...Huh." Whatever answer she had been expecting, that hadn't been it.

"I… Seem to have an interesting life."

"...I haven't forgiven you yet, you know."

"I know."

"...But, you… You made a good start, yesterday." Lonnie admitted, a small red on her cheeks. "Keep it up, yeah?"

"I'll do my best. I promise."

At that, Lonnie held out her hand for Catra to shake. Not the same as a hug, but given the work that still needed to be done between them, it was a pretty big gesture. Catra accepted it.

"Good luck." She said.

"You too. Look after Adora."

"I will."

Kyle and Rogelio were next. Rogelio said something that Kyle had to translate. Catra didn't pay it much attention though. She could still tell that Kyle was avoiding looking at her directly.

Maybe it hadn't been her place to interfere with whatever emotional situation Kyle had found himself in. She had just wanted to offer help. Maybe that had backfired.

She'd apologize when he got here.

That came a few moments later, when Rogelio and Kyle both came towards her. Rogelio engaged in a dialogue that Kyle would have to translate. It was the first time he looked up around Catra, but he avoided looking her in the face.

"Rogelio says he's… Really happy to see you both, and that… You seem like a new person. And he's… Glad that you decided to come here. And if you need anything from us, don't hesitate to come find us. We're all still a squad as far as he's concerned. And… Squads look out for each other."

A smile appeared. "I'm glad I came here too, Rogelio." Catra said to the lizard creature. He really was the definition of a gentle giant in reality, wasn't he? "Hopefully we'll see each other again soon."

Catra then found herself wrapped into a bear-hug - If he'd done this to Adora, Catra hadn't seen - From the look she was giving her from here, she had to assume he had. His hugs were tight and left her without breath for a while after, but she allowed it to happen, and once released, got her breath back.

"I - I swear you weren't a hugger back in the Horde." She gasped. Her answer came in the form of what sounded like a laugh.

"Times change." Kyle translated. He then turned to Rogelio. "Hey, big guy, can I… Speak to Catra on my own?"

Rogelio nodded, and returned to Lonnie's side.

For a couple of seconds, neither Kyle nor Catra said anything. Catra had assumed that Kyle had wanted to say something to her, but he barely even looked at her. She had a feeling that she had really screwed up last night.

"Hey, listen, Kyle, I'm er, sorry about last night, I didn't mean - "

She was cut off when Kyle hugged her. Just like he had done yesterday.

"...I'll think about it." He said to her, whispering. "...Thank you for the advice."

It took her a second or two to respond, but she replied by hugging him back. "Good luck. I… I hope it works out for you."

"Me too. And good luck with Adora."

"Thanks." She paused. "You should visit us at Brightmoon at some point."

"Would we even be welcome there?"

"I'll put in a word with Queen Sparkles. I have a bit of sway with her." She said exaggeratedly, as if it were an achievement.

Kyle recognized the exaggeration and laughed. "...Thank you."

The pair of them separated from one another, and Kyle went back to his friends. Catra returned to Adora. The two of them held one another's hand, and began to climb the ramp back into the First One's ship.

Directly, maybe Catra wouldn't be able to pay back her debt to the people she'd hurt. Maybe there wasn't a line in the way she thought there was.

But she felt like right now, she had helped Kyle just a little bit. And maybe that was how she'd have to 'Pay her dues' - Doing things bit by bit to make things better. Maybe there would never be an equilibrium line. Maybe that was the point. To keep making things better.

Maybe that wasn't so bad.

Adora smiled. "You and Kyle seem to have gotten close while we've been here."

Scratching the back of her head, Catra replied, "Yeah, well… I see something of myself in him."

"Oh?"

"Can't share what. " Catra smirked, looking towards Adora with her eyes, before closing them in an almost dramatic manner. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Even from your girlfriend?"

"Especially from my girlfriend."

The pair of them laughed as they reached the top of the ramp. With one last look behind them at their former - Their Squadmates - Their friends - They waved as the ramp folded up into the ship, and they began to fly back to Brightmoon, to keep making things that little bit better.

* * *

**Would you believe that the entire point of this story was for Catra and Kyle to talk about Kyle's supposed crush on Rogelio? And to that, I wrote about 20,000 words of context before that point.**

**Never let it be said I'm not dedicated.**

**This has been a fun experiment for me. She-Ra was a hell of a series, and it's one I've enjoyed dipping my hand into. Things felt a lot more natural the longer I wrote, and I feel like I've gotten a fairly solid grip on the characters here. Writing it took a lot longer though - I'm not as quick a writer as I used to be.**

**I do have a few one shots I'd like to try out with this series, including an introspective Catra one where she tries to explain why she did most of the stuff she did, at least from her perspective, to Adora. To sort of explain but not necessarily justify it. I dunno how long a oneshot it'd be but it'd be an interesting one to go over I think. Catra's an interesting character to me because I depressingly see a lot of myself in her. I've fucked up a lot of times and I've tried to come out of them better, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing. I do believe in trying to improve oneself and the world at large one bit at a time, so… Here's to trying to improve.**

**I hope ya'll enjoyed this series - If you did, I have a lot of other stories, mostly My hero Academia if you're interested in that. I have a Twitter and a Tumblr, both under QuirkQuartz, where I talk about the stuff I do as well as a lot of politics - And argue with conservatives a lot - I'm an Anarcho-Communist so I'm about as far to the left as one can conceivably get (Shocking that I like She-Ra then, huh). I do media reviews occasionally on YouTube which I post there, so if any of that interests you, follow me there.**

**Twitter -<https://twitter.com/QuirkQuartz>**

**Tumblr -<https://www.tumblr.com/blog/quirkquartz>**

**If not - I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in whatever I write next - See ya!**

**Author's Note:**

> I have the work ethic of a dying snail.
> 
> SO - This was supposed to be a short project that focused in on a theme that my dumbass brain decided needed about 10,000 words of context, and that separating them into chapters would do better for the pacing and layout of the story as opposed to a 10,000 word oneshot SO that's what happening - I'm still writing this thing BUT I've not updated anything in a while and She-Ra was amazing and I felt like adding this to the fandom before that whole thing dies SO here we go, hooray for more stress from a tired British Anarchist : D
> 
> The actual part of the story i'm interested in is not one I'll be revealing here until it's actually written down, SO, ya'll're just gonna have to guess where I'm going with this. Have fun : D
> 
> I've been really busy and stressed these last few weeks, from Uni shit, the Corona, Uni applications and all the phone lines being dead and other projects and politics and research and theory and designing my own comic - I've been so busy, ya'll. You have no idea. I am eternally tired. But I'm still writing because I enjoy it and want to add to the fandoms and the likes so here we are.
> 
> MHA stuff still incoming - I swear! I just have other things I need to get out of my system before I can return to them.
> 
> Also I have Twitter - Follow me there if you want. I post Art and talk about my writing - sometimes. Mostly I talk politics and scream at conservatives and bait them into being idiots. It's a fun time - It's QuirkQuartz on there too.
> 
> I'm gonna go write like a lunatic now. Hope ya'll enjoyed and the next chapter will be… tomorrow or the day after. Haven't decided yet - Byeee


End file.
